Scots lawyers volunteer for European legal assistance project in Greece

Advocate Lesley Irvine, who has assisted European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL) at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island, told Scottish Legal News that it was a “privilege to be taking part in a project which seeks to uphold the rule of law on such an individual level and in such an important way for the benefit of those who are genuinely in need”.

She added: “Without ELIL, which is one of only two legal NGOs operating inside Moria camp on Lesvos, and the only organisation of any type in the camp focused on providing advice at first-instance, some of the most vulnerable people applying for asylum or subsidiary protection in Europe (around 14,000 per year on Lesvos alone, of whom ELIL will assist around 5,000) would be going into the very interview which determines their application without necessarily understanding the purpose of the interview or what, in legal terms, asylum or subsidiary protection even means.

“I commend its work both personally and professionally to all those in Scotland and elsewhere who are able to support it, whether financially or by volunteering their time as both I and a number of other members of the Faculty of Advocates have already done.”

Ms Irvine is among four lawyers from Scotland who have volunteered with the charity.

Moria refugee camp is severely overcrowded, with over 8,000 asylum seekers living in a camp with a capacity for only 3,100. The BBC recently described it as “the worst refugee camp on Earth”.

ELIL is an independent charity whose team of Greek asylum lawyers and volunteer European asylum lawyers provide free, independent legal assistance to asylum seekers on the island.

Of those it has assisted, 74.5 per cent have been granted asylum, compared to an average of 46.5 per cent in Greece.   

ELIL is, however, in urgent need of financial support: there are new arrivals from Turkey almost every day and so far this year, over twice as many asylum seekers have arrived compared to the same period last year.   

Roddy Dunlop QC, Treasurer of Faculty, told SLN: “Faculty has for the last two years been supporting ELIL, both by providing financial assistance and by providing personnel, in their essential work.

“We are committed to continuing to support this project, without which vulnerable asylum seekers would lack essential legal advice. That experienced and able counsel such as Lesley Irvine give their time and knowledge, effectively for free, is testament to the importance of this project.”

Donate through ELIL’s website here