Director's Word

Dear Colleagues, old friends and new visitors to the RLP website

The Refugee Law Project has for ten years been the only civil society organisation in Uganda providing legal aid specifically to forced migrants in Uganda; as a community outreach project of a major university, we bridge the gap between theoretical rigour and hands on engagement and, as a Ugandan organisation working on a range of international issues, we occupy an interesting space somewhere in between the over-entitled on the one hand and the severely disenfranchised on the other.

If there is one problem confronting refugees which encompasses all the other problems, it is that nothing in international law stipulates that forcibly displaced persons have a right to a durable solution. They are supposed to be grateful for asylum, even if for many, it effectively involves putting their lives on hold; unable to integrate into the country of asylum, unable to return to country of origin, and denied the possibility of resettlement to a third country.

Given the failings of international and host country support systems, forcible displacement is thus not just about geographic dislocation and legal status, it also about the virtual impossibility of addressing the accompanying emotional, physical, psychological, political, educational and linguistic distress. In response, the RLP actively seeks ways in which to link its legal work to these other dimensions, particularly through psycho-social and educational support.

The experience of living for years in rural camps or urban slums in which basic services - let alone opportunities for personal, social and economic development - are lacking or actively denied, is often shared by internally displaced persons. Indeed, with global shifts in asylum policy and practice, and a corresponding increase in the numbers of Internally Displaced Persons, the Refugee Law Project has increasingly found it necessary to confront issues of internal displacement alongside its ongoing work with those who have crossed international boundaries.

Underlying many people's flight, and contributing to difficulties in their return, are abuses of rights and failures of justice. Often the formal justice system is weak or has collapsed completely. The model of justice offered is often fundamentally at odds with peoples' own understandings of justice and therefore lacks credibility. The discourse and practice of transitional justice offers at least some prospect of addressing these deficits.

For all these reasons that RLP has widened its approach from an exclusive focus on international refugees to a broader take on forced migration and justice more broadly. I very much hope you will take time to explore this website and take advantage of some of the many entry points it offers into this complex of contemporary dilemmas and challenges. Whether it is written or video information about what the RLP does, documentation from our research and advocacy work, upcoming events, a chance to volunteer or work with us, or simply our contact details and how to find us in Old Kampala, I hope you will find what you are looking for and will not hesitate to contact us for more information!