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Asylum Access Realizing Refugee Rights in Africa, Asia & Latin America |
Asylum Access's Ecuador project, ASELER, is a response to the critical gap in rights-based refugee assistance in Ecuador.
250,000 or more refugees currently reside – most illegally – in Ecuador. Without a refugee status determination (RSD) from the Refugee Office of the Ministry of Exterior Relations, refugees in Ecuador generally cannot work, enroll their children in school, or access other services. But misinformation and fear about the RSD process deter many refugees from seeking legal status.
Refugees who do go through the RSD process without assistance or advice often find themselves unjustly denied refugee status. Ecuador's Refugee Office sometimes fails to observe due process requirements intended to ensure accurate decisions. The refugee whose life or death depends on an accurate decision may not know when due process protections have been violated, or may be too afraid to speak up. And many refugees are simply too traumatized to effectively present their claim without help.
In October 2007, Asylum Access launched ASELER (Asesoría y Servicios Legales para Refugiados) to provide legal information, advice, counsel and representation to refugees seeking to assert their human rights in Ecuador.
ASELER's volunteer lawyers and law students advise individual refugee families on their human rights and legal status options. ASELER staff also conduct Know Your Rights trainings to help refugees understand the RSD process. In the future, ASELER may also undertake policy advocacy or strategic litigation to promote other refugee rights.