Refugee Legal Aid Training Weekend
- Date: 14-15 January 2012
- Time: 9am-5pm
- Venue: Linklaters, 10/F Alexandra House, 18 Chater Road, Central
CPD/CLE CREDIT MAY BE AVAILABLE
This intensive training weekend will provide a comprehensive overview of international refugee law, skills, and ethics for representation in UNHCR’s refugee status determination (RSD) process in Hong Kong.
It is open to partner law firm lawyers, HKU/CUHK clinic students, and prospective Casework Volunteers. Prospective Casework Volunteers must be able to commit to 5-10 hours per week for a minimum of 6 months. Partner law firm lawyers and clinic students are governed by separate agreements.
To apply for a place, please e-mail a CV and Statement of Interest to sjones@hkrac.org. Please include relevant experience, language skills, and Hong Kong immigration status. Preference will be given to partner law firm lawyers, clinic students, and prospective casework volunteers with relevant experience and Hong Kong permanent resident or dependent immigration status.
Deadline for receipt of applications: 16 December 2011.
Refugee Mental Health Training
- Date: 9-11 November 2011
- Time: 9am-5pm
- Venue: Scout Centre, Room 1104, Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
This training will be useful for anyone who works directly with refugee clients, such as: lawyers, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers, doctors, NGO staff, government immigration and social welfare officers, etc. The modalities used during the training will include some lecture, discussions, small group sessions, role plays, and case presentations. With a diverse group of participants we benefit from each participant’s expertise and experience.
- This training will cover the following kinds of topics:
- Models of interventions when working with refugee populations
- What are traumatic experiences and what are the normal reactions to trauma
- The consequences of violence (physical, psychological, social, spiritual)
- How do you assess for suicide?
- Learning to identify more serious mental health problems.
- The helping process
- Skills in interviewing
- Assessment of your client
- Developing a plan of action and treatment plan
- Specific interventions for mental disorders
- Making meaningful referrals
- Interventions with vulnerable groups: Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV); Working with traumatized children and their families; etc.
- How to care for the caregivers in order to prevent burn out
Day three of the training will be targeted towards experienced therapists who are presently working with traumatized refugee clients; and there will be a detailed presentation on doing assessments and report writing according to the dictates of the Istanbul Protocol (so that these reports will be able to stand up in Court or in front of the UNHCR) which may in particular be interesting for lawyers and decision-makers.
The training will be facilitated by Ms. Adrienne Carter, M.S.W., R.C.S.W. who has spent many years working in the area of refugee mental health. She has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières for the past 11 years and trained counselors in many different countries. At present she is working with the Centre for Victims of Torture (CVT) and is placed in Kenya with a Human Rights organization as psychotherapist/trainer. For a period of 9 months she is engaged in the capacity enhancement of local psychologists who are working with victims of torture throughout the country.
Registration for this event is now closed.
APRRN 2011 East Asia Symposium
Beyond Asylum: Refugee Policy in Practice and How Refugees Experience It
- Date: 12 November 2011
- Venue: University of Hong Kong, Council Chambers
Following the three day training, a Symposium will be held on 12 November 2011 at the University of Hong Kong. While the preceding training is closed to a maximum of 60 participants, the Symposium will be free and open to the public.
The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), together with key refugee advocates and practitioners are coming together to hold this symposium, with the aim of addressing a fundamental question: In practice how do you save lives, protect human rights, and provide for the diverse needs of vulnerable refugee populations with limited resources?
This Symposium brings key actors from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau and Taiwan together to identify gaps and solutions, debate the key issues, and challenge misconceptions about the most vulnerable population in Asia: refugees. Please RSVP to Flora Leung if you would like to attend at: fkleung@hku.hk.