Warwick Justice Without Borders: The Latest Warwick Pro Bono Opportunity
Warwick Justice Without Borders is a novel opportunity for those interested in using their language skills to create positive change in the local area. In collaboration with Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre we provide a range of services to asylum seekers, migrants, and refugees, helping them to smooth the transition into life in the United Kingdom. Working through Warwick Law Society, we are the latest addition to the wide range of pro bono projects available for students to get involved in at the University of Warwick.
I wanted to introduce this project because it was a cause that had received little coverage at Warwick. We are blessed to have a diverse campus with people from across the globe, and so, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to leverage the multilingual capabilities of the student population to bring real-life support to disadvantaged individuals. I was inspired by Baker Mckenzie’s pro bono work with Quorum – a children’s charity providing document translation services for migrant children in Ukraine. Bringing this idea to Warwick brought me to the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre, a local drop-in organisation that provides statutory support and advice to refugees, helping them to realise their full potential. My discussion with Heather Grimes, volunteer coordinator at a refugee and migrant charity, ultimately birthed Justice Without Borders. Applications for the premier volunteer positions opened in early October. Today, the project is providing students fluent in a range of languages (Urdu, Pashto, Farsi, Tigrinya, Arabic, Mandarin, Dari, Polish, Spanish, Amharic, and Kurdish) with a valuable opportunity to make real positive change to the lives of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers.
The project has two roles available for volunteering: interpreters and advice team caseworkers. Both of these positions involve using language skills to communicate with users of the Centre. The advice team volunteers provide advice and advocacy for refugees. This leverages the privileged position of understanding the various structures and systems in place that we take for granted - including job applications, bill payments, and universal credit applications - all of which help people find their feet. This role involves working under a core-worker, to ensure that correct procedures are used to assist clients in areas such as destitution, health, finance, housing, statutory benefits, education, employment, and immigration.
Volunteer interpreters work alongside the advice team and facilitate communication, acting as a bridge between the advice teams and the Centre users. Volunteers speak with refugees and migrants in their native language, helping them to break down and translate important documentation. They even act as translators in meetings with counsellors, local councils, and officials. The work is spontaneous by nature, as Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre works on a drop-in basis and primarily takes place remotely.
The nature of this work is truly rewarding, and a stark reminder for us to be grateful about the situations we find ourselves in. We do not have to leave everything we know and love behind in search of basic rights and opportunities. Many are born in war zones, and the sounds of guns, bombs, and destruction are commonplace. The search for a better life is often driven by the selfless desire to help families and communities, with many leaving all that they love behind them. The least we can do is use our privilege to ensure that refugees and migrants do not feel alienated or unwelcome in their new countries. For this very reason, we decided to found Justice Without Borders. While we can’t alleviate the pain, stress, and hardship that befalls these people, we hope we can make positive contributions in a small way and hopefully be a part of the solution.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (@warwickjusticewithoutborders) to stay updated with all the work that we are doing! We look forward to developing the project further and providing opportunities to get involved with work on campus. Look out for further volunteering opportunities - we want to start increasing our reach on social media, so if you are enthusiastic about publicity, be sure to reach out. We are also looking to start fundraising for the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre - so stay tuned for more details. You can donate to the CRMC here.
By Muadh Ansari
