Three students from Pompeu Fabra University possessing legal knowledge, mainly doing their third and fourth years at the Faculty of Law, are to travel to Greece during 2017 to offer free legal advice to asylum-seeking refugees, in collaboration with a local lawyer and activist in the third sector.

This initiative, the result of collaboration between teaching and research staff, students and administration and services staff at UPF, was the winning project in the last edition of the University Social Responsibility Projects Competition, funded by the Board of Trustees of the University and promoted by the Office of the Vice-rector for Social Responsibility and Promotion. The authors collected the award during the opening ceremony of the UPF 2016-2017 academic year, held on 26 September.

“Legal assistance for refugees in Greece” is the title of the project, which aims to help reduce the high demand for lawyers in managing the refugee crisis in Greece, foster voluntary legal work and advice within the third sector, and assist in the practical training of students the area of International Law.

The project is part of the UPF legal surgery, an initiative that began last year aside from the regulated curricula, for students to gain greater depth of knowledge of a concept of law, especially related to the social aspect, starting with a one-week course and practicals, in collaboration with various human rights institutions and NGOs.

Working together with a Greek lawyer

Once in Athens (Greece), the three volunteers chosen from the participants in the UPF legal surgery (eligible are students who took part in last year’s edition of the course and those who register in the current academic year, which will take place between October and November 2016) will provide free legal advice in conjunction with a lawyer from the country.

She is Electra Leda Koutra, a specialist in criminal law, and a member of the NGO “Hellenic Action for Human Rights- Pleiades”, and has represented hundreds of victims of human rights violations both before the Greek authorities and international bodies.

The fact of working in the field will allow the UPF students to contribute more significantly to the provision of legal assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, to learn about and gain an awareness of the reality facing the refugees, increase their professional skills and build a network of contacts.

A collaborative project funded by the UPF Board of Trustees

The three selected students will enjoy a scholarship funded by the Board of Trustees, which will contribute 2,400 euros, to cover travel and accommodation for a planned stay of 16 days (dates to be confirmed), and 50% of their living expenses, while the other 50% of expenses will be covered by the students. However, equal opportunities regarding candidates’ economic situations will be ensured, to prevent the selected volunteers from being unable to travel due to a lack of resources, with the participation of the Faculty of Law, if necessary.

This project stems from the synergies generated between lecturers, students and administration and services staff at UPF, conferring to it a transversal and inclusive nature. The promoters of the project are John Rossman Bertholf Palmer, a researcher with the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration (GRITIM); Marta Abegón and Pablo Pareja, lecturers at the Faculty of Law and coordinators of the UPF Legal Surgery; Núria Palau, a specialist in Institutional Relations and Protocol of the Rector’s Office at UPF (who spent some time at the Piraeus port refugee camp in Athens, highly useful for setting up the project), and Dídac Amat, a student of Law and Political and Administration Sciences at the University.

To assess the effectiveness and satisfaction of the various stakeholders involved, the project includes a satisfaction survey of the collaborating lawyers, with whom the project organizers will be in contact throughout the process; the presentation of a brief report by the students at the end of the project, and sessions open to the entire UPF community at which the students will share their experiences.

Mention for a project that aims to introduce students from Ciutat Vella to the world of biomedical research

The jury of the University Social Responsibility Projects Competition granted runner-up status to the project “Apropem-nos. Fem recerca amb el barri” (Let’s get closer! Let’s do research with the neighbourhood), coordinated by Paco Muñoz, professor at the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (DECXS).

It involves the design, coordination and implementation of a programme to support high school research work for students in the Ciutat Vella district, to bring the University closer to secondary schools in the district and provide them with the opportunity to experience the world of research first hand.

This project aims to promote equal opportunities for pre-university youths to get into the world of biomedical research and motivate secondary school teachers to conduct research work in the sciences. 

It also seeks to promote the integration of the University within the Ciutat Vella district to become an agent for social change, a task that is already being carried out by the Horitzons UPF project.

This academic year, UPF is to receive a Syrian refugee who will study the master’s degree programme in Immigration Management

Again, related with the area dealt with by the winning project of the University Social Responsibility Competition, for this 2016-2017 academic year UPF will receive a Syrian refugee, Mayar Skhita, who has come to Barcelona to study the master’s degree programme in Immigration Management, linked to the Department of Political and Social Sciences.

He has travelled on a student visa (his refugee status is not officially recognized) and in addition to facilitating other procedures, UPF will cover his registration fees and accommodation.

From the University, the Syrian student will be able to help other refugees within the framework of an aid programme in which UPF is working to help this collective, coordinated by the Office of the Vice-rector for Social Responsibility and Promotion.

This is a first step towards creating and standardizing a reception plan that allows refugees access to the University, which has created a committee to serve this group made up of representatives of the students, teaching staff, the deputy general manager for teaching, administration and services staff cooperation specialists, and the vice-rector for Social Responsibility and Promotion.

According to the vice-rector, Mònica Figueras, with the creation of this reception plan, UPF is committed to setting aside up to ten places on undergraduate courses, and for the registration fee to be covered.

But, according to Mònica Figueras, this is a task that “must be done in a network, in collaboration with NGOs and other university institutions, including the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), the Vives University Network and the Comissió Catalana d’Ajuda al Refugiat (CCAR) - Catalan Refugee Aid Commission combining academic and humanitarian criteria”.