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II. Refugees Legal Aid Project:
The Refugees Legal Aid Project was established in August 2001 upon the initiative of Dr. Barbra Harrell Bond, a visiting professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and under the umbrella of EOHR.
The project illustrates a real need to provide help to thousands of asylum seekers.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR, the number of registered refugees in Egypt amounts to 12,000 refugee from about 31 countries.
The number of unregistered refugees in Egypt exceeds that of the registered ones as it amounts to 30.000 asylum seeker from 2001 to 2002.
Such refugees may face some difficulties, at the top of which is their need for legal aid while submitting their applications.
During the last six months of 2001, the project achieved notable progress which continued through 2002.
In addition to providing legal aid, the project trained a number of lawyers and NGOs members on providing legal aid for refugees.
The project was keen on communication with other NGOs concerned with offering medical and social aid for refugees.
Additionally, it co-operated with international organizations and bodies concerned with the rights of the refugees that would provide information about the status of such refugees in their countries of origin.
This project was established to fulfill the following goals:
1- Providing aid for the asylum seekers in their efforts to be accredited with refugee status.
This can be fulfilled through helping them submit their certificates and to be ratified by the legal means according to the International Law and the relevant international conventions, specially, the law of UNHCR and the Geneva Convention of 1951 on the Status of Refugees and the Protocol of 1967.
2- Training Egyptian lawyers and the ones concerned with the studies of refugees on the Law on Refugees, providing legal aid to asylum seekers and refugees, and exchanging experiences and information with other human rights organizations.
3- Working on the improvement of the policies on refugees and calling for their rights in accordance with the international conventions to which the Egyptian government has adhered.
4- Co-operating with other organizations that provide refugees with legal aid in Africa and the Middle East Moreover, participating in the establishment of an African network to provide a better and a more effective legal aid for refugees
In the light of the previous goals, the project continued its activity throughout 2002.
It offered legal aid for 20 to 30 persons per month, both first time asylum seekers as well as those extending their applications.
By the end of 2002, the rate of acceptance of asylum seekers aided by the project at UNHCR reached 57%.
Such a percentage marks a notable progress as compared to the early months of 2002, which did not exceed 19% according to an independent and impartial study conducted by the AUC.
According to the asylum applications submitted to the project, it was found that the major countries to which asylum seekers belong are:
Sudan, Somalia, : Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, Chad, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Liberia, Libya, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Syria, Turkey, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
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Copyright © 2002 EOHR. All rights reserved. 