our Vision

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All migrants in South Yorkshire have access to justice and their human rights are protected.

sticker that says "every human has rights" on a post

Our Mission

Our mission is to increase the provision of good quality immigration legal advice and representation for migrants across South Yorkshire. We currently pursue this through the following activities:

Providing representation to refused asylum seekers in South Yorkshire
Providing direct one-off immigration advice to migrants via "drop in" sessions
Providing both paid and voluntary opportunities to undertake training and gain experience in the field of human rights law
Providing best practice training to stakeholders and partners

Our Values

Respect

We treat all clients, volunteers and staff with respect and dignity and without judgement.

Compassion

We work with each client in the way that best suits them. We adapt our service around the specific challenges and different experiences that our clients face whilst navigating the legal system.

Quality

We maintain high standards and are committed to providing an excellent quality of service to those we work with.

Tenacity

We work alongside our clients to explore all legal options and fight to ensure they get justice.

our Story

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SYRLJ was founded in 2011 by a group of legal practitioners following a public meeting in Sheffield, which was called in response to a critical gap in immigration legal provision for those seeking Sanctuary in South Yorkshire.

We started as a volunteer led organisation, working with people seeking sanctuary in South Yorkshire to gather evidence in support of their applications to stay in the UK. We now have a team of qualified, skilled and dedicated legal advisers who provide high quality legal representation to those who have nowhere else to turn.

SYRLJ was led, for many years by lawyer and academic Gina Clayton. Gina sadly passed away in 2021. Gina believed passionately in the right of everyone to access good quality legal advice and worked hard to ensure that SYRLJ played its part in achieving this aim.

Gina dedicated her professional life to challenging the systems that have created the hostile environment, and which have made the lives of those who flee persecution and seek sanctuary in the UK, so difficult.

We are grateful for the legacy that she left, which includes a strong ethos to treat every single person we work with, with respect and care and to fight tenaciously to uphold the human rights of those living in our communities.

What others say...

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South Yorkshire Refugee Law and Justice provide invaluable support for people seeking sanctuary. Their knowledge and expertise is a lifeline for many people caught in a web of hostile immigration policy. For people to have access to true legal advice and justice is invaluable and SYRLJ provide it with skill, expertise, and a deep knowledge of the issues people seeking sanctuary face. We are lucky to have them in South Yorkshire/Sheffield.