Helping refugees and asylum seekers in Mexico!

Kiri Libbesson Start Date: Aug 1, 2017 - End Date: Jan 31, 2018
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Mexico
  • Acayucan, Mexico
  • Veracruz, Mexico

My Travel Story

by: Kiri Libbesson Start Date: Aug 1, 2017 - End Date: Jan 31, 2018
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • Volunteer Trip
Each year, thousands of people, including many young people, arrive in Mexico after fleeing the "Northern Triangle" countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Many are trying to escape gang violence (and/or gang recruitment), drug trafficking, extortionists, or are otherwise fleeing for their lives from an area with one of the highest murder rates in the world.

Mexico is a signatory to international refugee laws (including the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Cartagena Declaration) and has incorporated such laws into its own domestic laws, meaning that such people should be able to safely seek asylum and refuge in Mexico. However, problems are still experienced at Mexico's southern border, with many of those looking for safety being detained and/or returned to danger in their home countries. Often those who are in need are unaware of their legal rights, including their rights to seek asylum.

Organisations such as Asylum Access are working very hard to provide much needed legal and other assistance to refugees and asylum seekers in Mexico, however limited funding means they rely heavily on the assistance of volunteers. 

Having begun my career as a lawyer in commercial litigation, with over 3 years’ private practice legal experience in first- and second-tier law forms in both Sydney and London, I developed strong legal skills in high-pressure environments. In addition to my private practice legal experience, I also have over two and a half years’ experience working in the Not-for-Profit sector, including in the legal assistance sector in Australia. I am now eager to use my legal and advocacy skills along with my Spanish-language skills to help people seeking safety in Mexico: to assist them in their claims for asylum, and to help them know their rights.

My experiences living, travelling, volunteering and working in different countries and cultures, and in a variety of roles, sectors and work environments, have helped shape my world view and broadened my understanding of the global context in which we live. Such experiences have fostered my desire to work in the area of human rights and refugee law, and accordingly I transitioned from the corporate law world to the Not-for-Profit sector, utilising my skills in an environment that impacts on the wider community, and, in particular, on disadvantaged communities. Such experiences have equipped me with a more diverse skillset, including working in cross-cultural environments, as well as flexibility in working in different work environments and on a variety of different projects and fields.

Prior to leaving Australia in March this year, I was co-leading a fully volunteer-run, grassroots charity (ARV) that works with children from refugee backgrounds living in Australia. Having volunteered with that organisation for over two years, I have come to know many young people with past experiences of torture and trauma, who had previously fled their home countries due to tragedies such as political upheaval, persecution or war.

At Asylum Access in Mexico, I will be providing individualised legal assistance and legal education workshops to refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from the Northern Triangle. Through providing legal information, counsel and representation, I will be able to help people in need to secure refugee status, as well as obtain and exercise their work rights and access to education, healthcare and other basic rights and protections.

Following the training and experience I will receive with Asylum Access, I then hope to be able to utilise my new skills and knowledge to work in refugee law in the future, either in Australia or another country, to continue helping vulnerable people to obtain a safer life.
  • Mexico
  • Acayucan, Mexico
  • Veracruz, Mexico