Our partnership with Asylum Aid to help those fleeing Ukraine

“Leaving Ukraine was very painful. All of our belongings, the connections I had forged and the life we had created for ourselves: all of it was left behind in one moment.”

Last April, Good Law Project partnered with Asylum Aid to fund a legal caseworker to assist those displaced by the war in Ukraine and help them claim asylum.

Thanks to the generous donations provided by you, Asylum Aid appointed Molly Nicolson, who brings years of invaluable experience to the role. Since September 2022, she has been advising and helping many people from different backgrounds seek safety.

Those helped include those who were forced to flee the violence across Ukraine, those who refuse to participate in the violence of war, as well as those who were living in the UK already and who can no longer return home.

Speaking about her work, Molly from Asylum Aid said:

“It’s amazing to have the opportunity to respond in such a real way and help people get protection here in response. I hope that, through representing more clients fleeing the war in Ukraine, we’re able to become experts in representing them and also potentially drive some change in the systems, to make it easier and quicker for them to obtain protection where that’s possible.”

The stories Asylum Aid has shared with us are heart-breaking and show how this conflict has impacted a wide range of people. One man had previously fled the war in Afghanistan as a child, built a life and started a family in Ukraine, only to be forced once again to seek refuge:

“I was granted Ukrainian citizenship in 2011 and started a business selling imported kitchen tools in the market. I was married and we started a family. I was able to buy our home in 2016. Our life was going well, we had three healthy children and my business was growing. I think this was the peak of my happiness in life.”

His partner spoke about the difficulty of having to uproot and seek a new home:

“Leaving Ukraine was very painful. All of our belongings, the connections I had forged and the life we had created for ourselves: all of it was left behind in one moment.

We tried many different organisations, and no one was able to accept us.

Finally, when Asylum Aid called us to tell us they could take our case, we were so relieved. We needed their support and it came to us. Having Molly as our lawyer has provided us with a sense of safety. ”

One year on from the invasion, millions of people continue to be displaced and the war sadly shows no sign of abating. We hope the work that Molly and Asylum Aid are engaged in continues to help those in need and we are all thankful to you, our supporters, who are helping to make safety for people a reality.

Asylum Aid is a charity that, for over 30 years, has been providing legal representation to some of the most vulnerable people seeking asylum. It has built an expert service, delivering vital and life-saving legal representation in some of the most complex legal cases, with a particular speciality working with survivors of trafficking, unaccompanied minors and stateless people.

Good Law Project only exists thanks to donations from people across the UK. If you’re in a position to support our work, you can do so here.