Transcarpathian legal aid providers strengthen their capacity to protect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers

On November 15, 2021, a training on the topic “Protection of the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons. International and national standards” was held in Uzhhorod for lawyers and employees of local legal aid centers (LACs) of the Zakarpattia region.

The head of programs of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights

Nadiya Edieva

presented the experience of the organization’s many years of activity in the field of protection of asylum seekers and refugees and highlighted the main current challenges in the field of migration in Ukraine today, in particular in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine restrictions.

The Director of the Regional Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid (BVLA) in the Zakarpattia Oblast

Vasyl Popadynets

emphasized the need to hold such mass events for BVLA lawyers in such a complex, but quite relevant topic today, in particular in the context of the migration crisis in neighboring countries. The head of the center also noted that lawyers who have undergone training will have the priority right to receive instructions to work with foreigners, asylum seekers and refugees.

The trainer of the event was an expert on migration issues, lawyer

Ostap Tymchiy

.

During the training, the participants were able to familiarize themselves with international and national legal mechanisms in the field of protection of the right to asylum, procedures for determining refugee status under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Law of Ukraine “On Refugees and Persons in Need of Supplementary or Temporary Protection”, the features of appealing decisions of the migration service to refuse to accept an asylum seeker’s application for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of supplementary protection, and the preparation of documents for consideration of such applications, examined the main aspects of the problem of statelessness and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the context of considering asylum seeker cases.

In a separate block, the training participants considered the issue of protecting stateless persons within the framework of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Recognition as a Stateless Person” dated 06/16/2020. The lawyers also analyzed a number of practical tasks on real cases of asylum seekers.

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the support of the Human Rights Houses Foundation.