RACS boss in Geneva addressing UNHCR and delegates
RACS Centre Director & Principal Solicitor Sarah Dale participated this week in an international UNHCR forum in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP), formerly known as the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR), are the primary global forum for UNHCR, States, NGOs, refugees and other stakeholders to discuss and advance issues of common interest related to resettlement and other durable migration pathways for refugees. It was held this year in Geneva from 25 to 27 June.
Participation in the CRCP is by invitation only and it is a tremendous honour for RACS and for Sarah that she was invited to participate and speak as a refugee law and policy expert.
Sarah spoke on Thursday 26 June on a panel discussion called Connecting the dots: Pro bono work for third country solutions. Alongside her on this panel were Daniel Adeyemi (DLA Piper), Lucie Bichet (Safe Passage International) and Laila Ayub (Project ANAR), with Jasmine Simperingham (PILnet) moderating the conversation.
Sarah pointed out that,
“In the current climate when resettlement places evaporate globally with devastating cuts to funding in this space, these (complementary) pathways are going to be lifelines to the many refugees RACS supports.”
She was able to share about RACS’s engagement with over a dozen pro bono law firms, and how their $5.7 million of pro bono support is a significant contribution to RACS ability to ensure people can find protection in Australia, not only through seeking asylum but through other pathways such as Family Reunion. Sarah reflected on our Afghanistan Crisis Response Clinic, which provides a helpful case study of the impact of pro bono partnerships and won the 2022 NSW Humanitarian Award for Best Project. With many people fleeing Afghanistan and seeking safety in Australia after the Taliban takeover in 2021, the legal need was both great in volume and urgency. The RACS team leveraged pro bono support from law firms in particular to coordinate swift and effective help for people calling from within Australia seeking safety for their impacted family members in Afghanistan and surrounds.
She highlighted RACS’s ability to learn from that crisis response and respond again during the invasion of Ukraine, and most recently to support more than 550 who have arrived in Australia from Gaza.
She also spoke to our key partnership with UNSW, and with the University of Melbourne and the Stateless Children’s Legal Clinic. These provide examples of how important the intersection of partnerships can be in ensuring RACS’s sustainability as an organisation, and in terms of filling the legal gaps that exist for the services the refugee community needs.
“I was proud to hear other delegates note that our team stands not just for refugees, but with refugees,” Sarah said. “It’s encouragement that I will cherish and keep replaying in the memory bank on those many, many tough days that are undoubtedly ahead.”
Attending this year’s CRCP was a moving, challenging and inspiring experience for Sarah. She said, “I heard voices that didn’t just speak—they stirred something deeper. These words came from those working on the frontlines of displacement, conflict, and human rights. They were the voices of lived experience and their messages were not abstract. They were urgent, grounded, and deeply human.”
Since 1995, the annual CRCP has provided an opportunity to address a wide range of policies and procedures, including advocacy, capacity building and operational support. An important outcome of the CRCP is the continued promotion and development of new and innovative ways to solve problems and combine resources to improve resettlement and complementary pathways for refugees.
The theme of the CRCP 2025 was “Thirty years of securing solutions together”. This year’s event was chaired by the Government of Spain, represented by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration (MISSM) and co-chaired by Accem, an NGO that aims to improve the living conditions of people in vulnerable situations.
More information about the forum here.
