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Capacity Building for Refugee Lawyers in Pakistan

In the past four decades, millions of people have fled from conflict in Afghanistan to Pakistan. Pakistan has and continues to coordinate response efforts with Afghanistan and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), however refugees face continued challenges in the country. In particular, refugees have limited access to legal assistance and protection, including in cases of alleged rights violations. Recently, concerns have also been raised about the nature of the refugees’ repatriation and reintegration on return to Afghanistan.

In this context, it is essential that refugees receive the necessary legal assistance and protection to protect their rights and status in Pakistan. However, there is a lack of lawyers with expertise in refugee and human rights law to provide support Afghan refugees in the country. In response to this issue, the Foundation, together with the Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) has established this capacity building project.

The aim of this project is to strengthen the legal capacity of refugee lawyers through the development and implementation of a comprehensive training programme focused on relevant international and domestic standards of human rights and refugee law. It aims to advance the lawyers’ knowledge of international law and fill gaps of knowledge in national legal standards through interactive activities that encourage the participants to reflect on the implementation of these instruments in their daily work. As a result of this project, lawyers will provide improved legal assistance and protection to Afghan refugees in Pakistan.