ASIL Programs > Career Development > Arthur C. Helton Fellowship > Helton Fellowship Profiles and Reflections > 2009 ASIL Helton Fellows > ASIL Helton Fellowship Reflections

The Refugee Law Project (RLP)

by 2009 Helton Fellow, Justin Dubois

Post-Fellowship Reflection Paper

I had the incredible opportunity, as a Helton Fellow, to spend last summer interning in Kampala at the Refugee Law Project (RLP), an organization with the broad mandate of ensuring the fundamental rights of all forced migrants in Uganda. More specifically, as a legal intern, I worked in the legal aid and counseling department, which focuses on offering on-the-ground juridical help and psychosocial support to refugees, both in Kampala and in the refugee settlements across the country.

In Kampala, I aimed to concretely experience how international refugee law is applied in a country with substantial numbers of forced migrants, where the rule of law, strong legal institutions and western liberal norms may not be present. My experience at the RLP surpassed all of my expectations. Among my varied tasks, the work I found most rewarding was following up on the cases of refugee clients who came to RLP with their legal problems. The nature of these cases ranged from acquiring refugee status, to completing a resettlement application, to reporting a reported missing child. Consequently, the specific responsive actions varied just as much – from taking a testimonial, to writing a letter, or to spending the day at different police stations in the city in search of a client’s son. I quickly learned that given the lack of communication infrastructure as well as transparency in the state bureaucracy, tasks are accomplished in person with a direct approach.

I was also fortunate to accompany a lawyer and two counselors to the northwestern refugee settlements in the West Nile region. The RLP undertake these field visits to offer on-location legal aid and counseling as well as to evaluate the human rights situation in the settlements.  These visits results in recommendations to the Government of Uganda, UNHCR, and its implementing partners. One of the refugee settlements was closing as the majority of refugees had returned to South Sudan. Some, however, did not want to return for reasons not recognized by international or domestic law – but rather for reasons of livelihood as well as educational and health opportunities for themselves and their families. One comment by a Sudanese summarized well the feeling of many with regards to their rights under international law: “Why must we return to the Sudan when those who have made their way to London and Sydney do not?”

One of the more difficult aspects of working with refugees was the necessity to manage expectations. The majority of refugees in Kampala would like to be resettled to a third – i.e. a Western – country. Decisions to resettle individuals, however, ultimately rest with the resettlement state and not with the RLP and its lawyers. Informing individuals that their best avenue of action is to concentrate on their new lives in a new location – especially to members of certain refugee communities that have developed a sense of entitlement to being resettled – can be a draining exercise. The legal does not always coincide with the hopeful.  

On the institutional level, RLP faces many challenges. Resources are often difficult to obtain. As a body working and speaking on behalf of the different refugee communities, RLP often finds itself at odds with both the governmental authorities as well as with the international organizations that have different approaches to refugee aid. Nevertheless, it is often only by taking these unpopular stances in many situations that the spirit of the law is respected.

Aside from refugee law, I was exposed to RLP’s work on transitional and traditional justice. I heard the points of view of traditional elders on both international legal norms as well as the important place they believe should be given to their own traditional customs; these perspectives were fascinating and gave me much to think about with regards to the role and place of international law.

My internship at the Refugee Law Project gave me the opportunity to grow as a future lawyer as well as an individual.  I was able to forge individual as well as institutional connections that I hope will grow. The interactions I had with refugees and above all, my colleagues at the RLP, taught me much that I could never have been exposed to in a classroom. It brought both the reality of applying international refugee law in a domestic context as well as the refugee experience to a very tangible level. I plan to continue supporting the Refugee Law Project’s work from afar in their growing array of projects.