Global: Migrant rights clinic forcibly shut
The Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants (LCRI), which provides legal aid to refugees and immigrants from a number of countries, was forcibly deprived of its office space in the Faculty of Law at Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria, on January 17, 2008. The LCRI serves a number of African clients, most recently including individuals and families from: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Western Sahara, and Zambia.
Legal Clinic for refugees & immigrants
PRESS RELEASE: MIGRANT RIGHTS CLINIC FORCIBLY SHUT
For Immediate Release
February 16, 2008 - Further Information: [email][email protected]
The Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants (LCRI), which provides legal aid to refugees and immigrants from a number of countries, was forcibly deprived of its office space in the Faculty of Law at Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria, on January 17, 2008. The LCRI serves a number of African clients, most recently including individuals and families from: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Western Sahara, and Zambia. Many have been in Bulgaria for some time and all face significant hardship in terms of discrimination, access to basic rights, and potential detention and deportation.
The closure was made by officials of the University during client-receiving hours and was not precipitated by advance warning. The Clinic was provided only two hours to vacate the room, and no satisfactory explanation for the action was (or has since been) provided. The abrupt closure demonstrates a brazen lack of regard for the very serious human consequences resulting, let alone the privacy of clients, the sensitivity of stored information, incoming case-support faxes and mail, the extensive and long-term efforts of student volunteers, and the constant necessity for member and client access to the collection of many years-worth of case related documents.
The university administration has refused to provide substantive information or to engage in constructive debate in shameful disregard for dramatic student body mobilization and the submission of many hundreds of student petition signatures to the Law Faculty Dean.
While the LCRI struggles to function without a centralized office, the actions of the administration - designed to close the human rights organization without opportunity for broader attention or outcry - have severely crippled the capabilities of the clinic, threatening the imminent demise of the only organization in Bulgaria providing practical training in Refugee, Migration, and Human Rights Law to students.
The consequence of the office closure on the immigrant community is devastating. While the LCRI maintains asylum seeker detention cases against Bulgaria before the European Court of Human Rights and continues to advocate before the national courts, the lack of a centralized office has severely hampered opportunities for clients, potential clients, and others to access legal counsel, obtain critical basic rights information, and operate within a safe space.