We have recently been awarded a grant of funding from Unbound Philanthropy for JustRight for Refugee Children to establish two new collaborations!
Unbound Philanthropy is a private grant-making foundation that works to ensure that migrants and refugees are treated with respect and engage with their new communities.
JustRight for Refugee Children
JustRight for Refugee Children aims to better refugee and migrant children’s access to protection and rights in all spheres of their lives. We use our expertise to provide a child-centred legal service which specifically focuses on the areas where refugee and migrant children find it difficult to realise their rights, including in the immigration/asylum and child care system systems. We also deliver training and outreach, to better societal and professional understanding of refugee and migrant children’s rights.
How we will use it
JustRight for Refugee Children will develop two collaborative pilot projects to provide a child-centred legal service focused on the areas where children who are refugees and migrants find it difficult to realise their rights.
Scottish Guardianship Service
The first pilot is a collaboration with the Scottish Guardianship Service (SGS), a Scottish Government-funded service operated by Scottish children’s charity Aberlour in partnership with the Scottish Refugee Council. SGS provides independent advocacy services for unaccompanied children seeking asylum and child victims of trafficking.
We feel that it is important for our two services to combine our skills and expertise in order to provide an efficient, best practice model of advocacy and legal representation for the increasing numbers of migrant children seeking protection in Scotland. Together, we will work to ensure that these at risk children and young people receive the best possible advice and are able to benefit from all of the support and care to which they are entitled.
Pro Bono Network
The second pilot is the establishment of a pro bono legal network for children in Scotland. Our experience at JustRight Scotland tells us that the pro bono sector has a critical role to play in delivering an enhanced legal service to marginalised and at risk groups. We want to take steps now to build a pro bono network in Scotland which will bring added value for vulnerable groups requiring legal assistance.
We will initially pilot the pro bono collaboration with global law firm DLA Piper LLP. DLA Piper are acutely conscious of the value of the pro bono sector and operate a well-established pro bono programme worldwide. We will work with DLA Piper’s highly skilled lawyers to focus on immigration applications for migrant children in the care of the local authority, with the aim of getting them “settled” status in the UK as quickly as possible. This is a key area we have identified as requiring specialist legal intervention.
