Jelia Sane to speak at a refugee rights conference in Lebanon

Jelia Sane will take part in an international refugee rights conference in December 2018 in Beirut, Lebanon, on the theme of “Ending exclusion of the most vulnerable: Solidarity, Humanity and Dignity with persons in exile”. The conference is organised by Samu Social International and  Amel Association International, two humanitarian NGOs working to protect and promote the rights of vulnerable migrants in Lebanon. Jelia will be speaking on the situation of unaccompanied minors along migratory routes and their rights to effective access to asylum procedures and to family reunification.

In addition, Jelia will be travelling to the Beqaa Valley on the Lebanon-Syria border for a  fact-finding visit to a number of  camps and informal settlements hosting predominantly Palestinian and Syrian refugees. Lebanon is host to the largest number of refugees per capita in the world, including an estimated 200.000 Palestinians and over 1.5 million Syrians. Yet the country is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the status of refugees or its accompanying 1967 protocol. Refugees in Lebanon face acute legal and socioeconomic challenges, including uncertainty over their legal status and lack of access to employment, adequate housing, healthcare and education.

Jelia practices in the areas of immigration and asylum, international law and public inquiries. She is currently based in Athens, where she works as a volunteer legal consultant for Safe Passage UK, an NGO providing advice and representation to lone child refugees on safe and legal routes to international protection. She maintains her UK practice from Greece. Her full profile can be viewed here.