Legal and Technical Assistant – Samos Legal Centre

Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders France or ASF France) is a French nongovernmental organisation established under 1st July 1901 French legislation.
Its mission is to:

• Promote access to the law and fair justice for vulnerable persons who are removed from it,arbitrarily detained or tortured;
• Defend any person deprived of a free and independent defense as well as human rights defenders threatened or violated in the performance of their duties;
• Strengthen the capacity and the autonomy of local actors in the defense and promotion of human rights (civil society and actors in the judicial system).

To do so, ASF France uses all the means available and can bring complaints before domestic and
international institutions, and before judicial and non-judicial institutions, it can also intervene before them, including through civil actions before competent jurisdictions.

ASF France in Greece:

Millions of people embark on long and dangerous journeys to Europe every day, by road or sea from the Asian and African continents, fleeing insecurity in those regions. Greece remains one of the primary entry-points for asylum seekers in Europe. Samos Island, due to its geographical position as the closest Greek island to the Turkish coast, welcomes a large number of people seeking international protection every year. Between September-December 2022, over 1675 asylum seekers were registered as new arrivals in Samos. These applicants are placed under geographical restriction and cannot leave the island for the duration of their legal procedures. They do not have access to state-provided legal aid before their asylum interview.

In order to respond to the need for legal assistance on Samos, ASF France opened a Legal Centre in January 2019, whose objective was to contribute to guaranteeing the right to seek asylum and to protect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers. To do so, the team on the ground welcomes asylum seekers on a daily basis to provide legal advice, such as interview preparations, appeals support and general legal assistance with different proceedings.

Since September 2021, asylum seekers in Samos reside in a « Closed and Controlled Access Centre, » a facility funded by the EU at a cost of 43 million euro. This remotely located facility has raised considerable issues with ensuring meaningful access to legal support, as the transparency of asylum procedures, conducted within the camp, has become extremely limited. Many legal and non-legal actors departed the island when the new Centre opened, and ASF France became one of the main independent organisations providing free legal support as a result. When large numbers of new arrivals are registered in Samos, ASF France is directly called on to support them with information provision and interview preparations.

For its project of Legal Centre on the island of Samos in Greece, ASF France is looking for a Legal and Technical Assistant in Greece. The Legal and Technical Assistant will be responsible to contribute to the proper implementation of the Samos Legal Centre project set up by ASF France.The technical assistant will be under the supervision of the Project Manager.

Main Responsibilities:

• Coordination and technical support

– Support and coordinate the field team on the different proceedings undertaken, in cooperation with the project manager.
– Support the Project Manager in the training and management of the field team (composed mainly of volunteers and lawyers)
– Update technical training tools and databases, and assist the project team in updating the project monitoring tools (i.e. database and analysis tools).
– Support with ensuring a legal and geopolitical monitoring on the context.
– Provide analysis and legal support on project activities to the project team
– Support with strategic litigation and advocacy activities and reporting.
– Facilitate awareness-raising workshops on the rights of asylum seekers

• Communication

– Participate in the follow-up of the Facebook page of the Samos Legal Centre by making proposals, gathering feedback and drafting posts.
– Provide legal expertise when necessary

• Other

– Analyse the context and provide information to the Project Manager

Required profile and qualifications:
– Master’s degree in law, specialty in human rights and/or refugee rights and migration
– Experience in providing direct legal support to asylum seekers
– Knowledge and field experience of the legal procedures and means available for asylum seekers in Greece
– Knowledge and experience of applications before the European Court of Human Rights
– Solid knowledge of the European and Greek legal and geopolitical context
– Knowledge of project management
– Excellent writing and analysis skills
– Excellent communication and team training capacities
– Written and spoken proficiency in English and French
– IT skills (Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher, Internet Explorer)

Work conditions :
– Fixed-term contract under French law
– Remuneration according to profile and experience
– Duration of contract: Up to 31 December 2023 (depending on project renewal)
– Starting date: As soon as possible
– On-site accommodation
– ASF France covers two return trips between home and work, at the beginning and end of the mission, and for one mid-mission leave, according to the criteria of the association.