Adaleh legal aid unit offers free legal services, consultations, awareness sessions to more than 750 refugees so far
shaheennews – Israa Majid,
a 15-year-old Syrian refugee and a mother of an infant child was desperate to claim her legal rights after divorce, until she has finally won a free-of-charge alimony case that was filed against her husband.
For the 38-year-old Syrian refugee Wafa Ahmad, extracting legal documents to her five children was a “real struggle”, but she could eventually obtain their official papers through free legal consultations.
These Syrian women are only two of many Syrian refugees who received free-of-charge legal consultations and services for various legal issues at the Adaleh Legal Aid Unit at Al Mafraq Governorate, some 80 km from Amman.
During an awareness session held on Thursday, the unit director lawyer Salem Al Mefleh briefed around 50 refugees on how to deal with the most common legal issues they face in Jordan in addition to addressing their questions and offering customised consultations to each case as needed.
The session was the 8th of a series of regularly held awareness sessions which target a new group of refugees every time to ensure reaching out to the maximum number of people.
Under the one-year-long project which is funded by the Spanish International Cooperation for Development Agency (AECID), the unit offers consultations and services to various cases related to the Sharia law, civil service law, criminal law, as well as any other administrative issues.
Around 450 Syrian refugees attended the awareness sessions and 310 were offered free legal consultations and services since the project was launch in November 2017 whereas three lawyers are recruited at the unit to file cases for the refugees without any fees.
“AECID supports the rule of law and access to justice in Jordan, particularly of vulnerable groups, such as women and children in the context of the Syrian crisis,” Isidro Garcia Mingo, project manager at AECID said, stressing, “We believe access to justice is the key to enjoy the full realisation of all rights.”
The Adaleh Legal Aid Unit at Al Mafraq was established in 2014 to serve the Syrian refugees population through offering legal consultations and services, conducting awareness sessions, documenting violations, and exploring the refugees’ community.
The unit is part of the Adaleh Centre for Human Rights Studies, which is a non-governmental organisation that aims at enforcing human rights, democracy, and justice in Jordan and the Arab world through building the capacity of NGOs and the involved parties.
