Asylum Clinic

There is a growing crisis in access to immigration and asylum legal aid in the UK. At RLS, we see the impact of this crisis every day. Even the most vulnerable people seeking safety are routinely unable to secure legal representation for their asylum claims, increasing the risk of unfair decisions and return to situations of serious harm.

In this context, RLS’s Pro Bono Asylum Clinic (launched in February 2026) provides legal support to people who would otherwise be left without representation. We collaborate with six commercial law firms to provide support on first time claims. Under our legal aid contract, we also represent clients through to the appeal stage, if they are eligible.

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Our focus

To maximise impact and ensure high-quality legal work, the clinic focuses on a defined set of nationalities and themes, enabling lawyers to develop in-depth, practical expertise.

At this time, we are prioritising asylum claims from Afghanistan, Sudan, and Eritrea. For now, we are not able to take on any unaccompanied children or age-disputed clients as we are working with a new team who do not have the experience needed for those kinds of cases yet. We are also not able to take on clients in detention.

The clinic will also support select cases involving climate- and disaster-linked displacement, contributing to the development of legal practice in an emerging and under-developed area of asylum law, and cases involving the criminalisation of people seeking asylum, including those prosecuted after arriving in the UK by small boat.

The clinic is designed to evolve in response to legal need and capacity.

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If you or someone you are supporting fulfils the above criteria, please fill in the form on this page and we will be in touch to discuss.