The Refugee Legal Aid Project, St Andrew’s Refugee Services
Published: 6 Oct 2016
Country: Egypt
Website: www.stars-egypt.org/rlap
Contact Person: Kristine Rembach
krembach@stars-egypt.org
Christopher Eades
ceades@stars-egypt.org
Telephone: 02 27 73 63 47
Street Address: 38, July 26th Street, Downtown, Cairo
Operating Hours:
Sunday-Thursday, 10:00-16:00
St Andrew’s Refugee Services provides assistance to refugees from 32 different countries. Services are delivered to refugees based on need and without discrimination. The refugees themselves are involved in the administration and staffing of the program whenever possible.
The Refugee Legal Aid Project at St Andrews provides legal rights counseling, protection assistance and human care services to uniquely vulnerable refugees in Egypt. Without access to education or employment, Egypt styles itself as simply a waiting ground for refugees until they are either repatriated or resettled. For many refugees, the wait for personal security in their own countries can last years or even decades—long after any savings have disappeared and their families have been thrown into severe poverty.
The Direct Access programme, through the International Organization of Migration, offers resettlement to Iraqi refugees if they have been targeted because of their work with the US or Coalition forces or media. It trains volunteer caseworkers in refugee law and resettlement protocols and remains the only legal aid organizations that works consistently with the Iraqi population in Egypt. Now under St Andrews, the RLAP offers legal aid, resettlement case preparation and advocacy, psychosocial counselling and protection referrals. The vast majority of RLAP’s clientele are Iraqi, but in 2009, RLAP began to accept other nationalities. Services are focuses on persons who suffer acute medical needs or protection emergencies.