Resettlement Legal Aid ProjectBuilding pathways of justice to new beginnings

RLAP has worked with over 700 refugees in Cairo this year on a variety of legal matters. Staff and interns interview clients to determine legal eligibility for refugee status or resettlement to another country,communicate with governmental agencies on behalf of clients, and prepare testimonies and appeals.

An Iraqi doctor working in an Iraqi hospital, he had seen more unnecessary death during his residency than many doctors see in their entire careers. Dead bodies peppered his commute to work; sectarian expenditures tossed to the roadside like spent bottles. The body of a coworker was among them; a doctor shot dead on his morning commute. If there was one thing Shakir learned during his last few years in Iraq and after his flight to Egypt, it was that “there is nothing that will be with you forever.” A sad was that “there is nothing that will be with you forever.” A sad truth from a man who seemed only to want happiness.

Shakir, a refugee and RLAP client, arrived at StARS afterfleeing to Egypt in an effort to escape the long arm of sectarianviolence in Iraq. Upon arriving in Egypt, he learned that his medi-cal residency in Iraq would not be recognized to practice medi-cine in Egypt. A qualified medical doctor from the top medical school in Iraq—with the unparalleled depth of experience that war brings to the surgical theatre—was met with the sad reality that his expensive application for a medical license in Egypt was rejected without appeal (and without an official letter explaining the reason).

In Egypt, his medical residency was not only officially unrecog-nized, but its equivalent was a twelve-month at-cost internship running into the thousands of U.S. dollars. He paid for this, but was still denied a license to practice medicine in Egypt. It seemed every attempt to change his life for the better was met with an-other disappointment.

refugees who understood his sense of desperation. He has once again taken another leap and chartered a path towards fulfillment through counseling other refugees, while pressing forward with his own petition for resettlement to another country. However, the petition is time-consuming and requires specialized knowl-edge of the procedures of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as international human rights law.

Expecting refugees to simultaneously fend off the ever-encroach-ing penury and listlessness that accompanies such great up-heaval, all while acquainting themselves with the intricacies of UNHCR policy and international refugee law, is as unrealistic as it is cruel. Shakir’s story demonstrates the overwhelming string of loss that typifies the struggle of refugees; a seemingly endless ava-lanche of tragedies. While their status continues to deprive them

doctor, the right of their children to attend schools, it is this precise lack of opportunity that makes them appealing cases for resettlement through the UNHCR. That is where StARS and the Resettlement Legal Aid Project (RLAP) come in; giving this persecuted and impoverished population the tools to build a new future for themselves.

“You can’t be yourself and you can’t just be human,” reflects “You can’t be yourself and you can’t just be human,” reflects Shakir on his time as a refugee. But he smiles while recount-ing the good work he is doing to improve the lives of others through the St. Andrew’s community. Deprived of basic rights and dignities for so long, it is encouraging to see the tired grin of satisfaction creep across his face.

-Brendan Rigby, Volunteer since June 2009

A Quick Thought...

Recently, a taxi driver appeared at RLAP’s door.whoexplained that he had driven a man, wife, and son tothe airport that morning. He reported that this manhad burst into tears and started kissing the groundand thanking God at the terminal. He came and toldus because he was so moved, and thought we shouldknow how thankful this man was for RLAP.know how thankful this man was for RLAP.