Addressing the Refugee Crisis: Providing a Permanent Home to Syrian Refugees

The Goal: Hire Attorneys to Screen Syrian Refugees in the Most Dire Situations and Bring them to the U.S.

There are currently 4 million Syrian Refugees, according to UNHCR. The U.S. Government allows 15,000 Syrian refugees to resettle in the U.S. each year, but only 140 of these slots have been filled due to obstacles in the application process. 

The Problem: Strict Background Checks are Preventing Refugees from Coming to the U.S.

As a criteria for entering the U.S., all refugees must undergo an intensive background check; this is the greatest hinderance to the refugee admission process. 

The Solution: Hire Dedicated Attorneys to Facilitate the Application Process

The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) aims to raise money to hire attorneys who will work exclusively on screening Syrian refugees. These attorneys will work to find the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, who are most likely to pass the background check, and process their application to the U.S.  

About the Organization: The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)

IRAP is known for their previously successful work in bringing Iraqi Refugees to the U.S. They resettled over 3,000 refugees from throughout the Middle East with an 85% success rate. IRAP is now focusing their efforts on the Syrian refugee crisis by hiring attorneys dedicated exclusively to processing Syrian refugee applications and have had a 100% success rate resettling Syrian refugees. IRAP believes that finding a home for the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon creates a more permanent solution to this humanitarian crisis.

Donations: 

All donations go directly towards the salary of an attorney who will be working exclusively on Syrian Refugee cases. Overhead costs have already been covered by other donors. An attorney based in Jordan or Lebanon working on Syrian refugee applications costs $50,000. IRAP has already raised $30,000 and needs $20,000 to hire the first attorney!

For more information regarding IRAP's work, please visit their website:

http://refugeerights.org/tag/irap/  

This fundraising campaign is organized by law students from the University of Michigan and students at the University of Virginia. If you have additional questions, please contact Noha Moustafa at mnoha@umich.edu. Your donations are immensely appreciated.