• Executive Director Emily Arnold-Fernandez spoke at the International Human Rights Funders Group Conference 2012 on mainstreaming refugees into human rights discourse.
• Our Right to Work blog has been receiving record hits in recent months. Read about U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UNHCR High Commissioner António Guterres’ support for lawful employment for refugees.
• Asylum Access Ecuador held its 7^th “Encuentros de Mujeres” (Convenings of Women) in January, enabling 16 more refugee women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) to focus on healing in a one-day workshop.
• Asylum Access Ecuador completed a report on refugee women SGBV survivors, reflecting on the past two years of women’s workshops and focusing on SGBV issues.
• Asylum Access Thailand is helping two asylum-seekers wrongfully detained in immigration detention to assert their right to seek safety.
• Asylum Access Thailand Country Director Medhapan Sundaradeja participated in the Asia Pacific Regional Immigration Detention Working Group workshop organized by International Defense Coalition to explore collaboration opportunities to implementing regional and national action plans.
• Asylum Access Tanzania interpreter Pastor Wilondja was invited to speak to Congolese Community in Tanzania (CCT) about our work. We serve many refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Asylum Access Tanzania was invited by UNHCR to discuss better collaboration on refugee matters in Tanzania, along with other NGO partners.
• To commemorate International Migrants Day, Asylum Access Tanzania organized a workshop for NGO partners with the Center for International Migration and the University of Dar es Salaam.

Ecuador:
Figures: Assisted a total of 562 refugees directly, providing 49 new clients with individualized legal assistance, 470 with community legal education, and reaching another 43 through our Community Legal Advisors.
Highlights: Asylum Access Ecuador held 16 Know Your Rights workshops, enabling 320 refugees to learn about their options and how to access them.
Tanzania:

Figures: Assisted a total of 236 refugees directly, providing 70 with individualized legal assistance, 89 with community legal education, and helping 77 refugees obtain work permits.

Highlights: Asylum Access Tanzania is defending a refugee’s right to land ownership in a court case where a neighbor is challenging his rights.

Thailand:

Figures: Provided individualized refugee assistance to a total of 33 new refugee clients last quarter.
Highlights: Asylum Access Thailand continued to provide individualized legal assistance during the worst floods in the country in half a century.

Published February 2012