The African Refugee Development Center (ARDC) is a grassroots, community-based, non-profit organization that was founded in 2004 by African asylum seekers and Israeli citizens, in order to assist, protect and empower African refugees and asylum seekers in Israel. To date, the ARDC has served over 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Eritrea, Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast.
The Asylum Application Assistance Team: The object of the project is to ensure that asylum seekers in the State of Israel have greater opportunity to realize their human right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution through promoting a fair and just asylum application process. Main activities include - establishing proof of nationality for non-detained and detained asylum seekers eligible for group protection; assisting individuals in applying for refugee status; advising on relocation options; broadly distributing information to refugee community; monitoring development of asylum regime; instituting strategic litigation to promote community-wide policy change; publishing reports on findings and recommendations; disseminating information; advocating before UN; strengthening ties and cooperation with authorities.
Refugee Status Determination is the procedure that determines whether those seeking asylum fall within the definition of a refugee in need of protection in accordance with international law. The process requires an asylum seeker to submit a written explanation for his or her application, followed by an in-depth interview, research into the conditions of his or her country of origin and a decision as to whether that person meets the legal criteria for refugee status. ARDC assists applicants through every phase of this difficult process. Please note that we are a paralegal organization, not a legal organization. We help the asylum seekers with their procedures at the Ministry of Interior, but we do not have any lawyers at the ARDC.
The RSD intern will work with the RSD staff, in a manner different to the workings of a standard law firm practice; on applications for refugee status, appeals and other legal matters. With challenging cases, the Israeli legal context and the complex lives of our clients combine to make this a rewarding experience. This intern will have to conduct interviews, keep regular contact and evaluate the status of applications. The RSD interns also provide counsel for clients for application meetings and interviews. Interns in the RSD Team need to write strong applications based on international conventions whilst working within the Israeli legal context which lacks a clear refugee framework. The position involves research into the legal context for asylum seekers, evaluation and data collection on application status of clients, and liaison with the client, project coordinator, and other NGO’s and community organizations.
Main Responsibilities
- Registers and interviews clients
- Researches information and background on countries to write the application
- Writes applications based on the interviews and reviews them based on international and Israeli law
- Participates in the community contact and interactions
- Refers clients to other organizations and structures
- Participates in the advocacy and data collection for the Asylum Application Assistance team
- Participates in general team meetings and organization
Qualifications
- Applicant must be fluent in spoken and written English; other language experience is helpful. Hebrew is an advantage
- Reliability, able to work independently, creative, flexible, positive
- B.A. level in Humanities, law, social sciences, communications, international law or any other relevant field
- Previous experience in the field of human rights – helpful
Time Commitment 30 hours a week, Sunday-Thursday
22 weeks: March 2016
Please note start dates are not flexible.
Reports to: Project Coordinator
Please note all ARDC internship positions are unpaid. We do not provide accommodation, travel or health insurance.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please fill in the application form (available at this link) and send with your CV to volunteer@ardc-israel.org . Please save your documents as PDF and label as follows:
CV - First name, Surname CV (e.g. John Smith CV)
Application Form - First name, Surname Form (e.g. John Smith Form)
