Asylum Intern at Physicians for Human Rights

Physicians for Human Rights

Asylum Network Intern – Spring 2012

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes health professionals to advance the health and dignity of all people through action that promotes respect for, protection of, and fulfillment of human rights. As one of the original coordinating committee members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, PHR shared the 1997 NobelPeacePrize.

The Asylum Network at Physicians for Human Rights provides pro bono medical evaluations for individuals fleeing human rights abuses from countries all over the world who are seeking asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief from deportation in the US. The network is composed of hundreds of expert health professionals that provide physical, psychological, and gynecological evaluations to document evidence of torture and abuse. If evidence of severe harm is found, these volunteers provide to the attorneys of these asylum seekers medical affidavits for submission to theImmigration Court.

The Asylum Network is seeking an intern for Spring 2012 a minimum of 20 hours/week to work with the Asylum Network Coordinator. The intern will assist in maintaining a network of over 450 health professionals, as well as providing administrative and clerical assistance to the Asylum Network Coordinator. The intern will be responsible for obtaining case outcomes of past clients, managing case details of current clients, as well as assisting with in-depth background research on investigations conducted by the Asylum Program.

Key responsibilities can be expected to include:

• Sensitive human rights data organization and maintenance
• Handling all intake forms for new clients, and summarizing case descriptions
• Entering all sensitive case material into a database
• Obtaining case outcomes for all past clients of the asylum network
• Contacting theImmigration Court, formally known as the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to obtain case results
• Locating attorneys who have changed positions or firms since working with PHR, and updating contact information
• Administrative tasks, such as filing and archiving case information
• Editorial tasks, such as proofreading and footnotes
• Background research on key areas of interest to the Asylum Program, such as US immigration laws, detention centers, and medical care available to those in detention
• Keeping up to date on current news and hot topics relating to immigration

Qualifications

• Strong interest in and commitment to human rights;
• Exceptional analytical, writing, and verbal skills; superior research skills;
• Extremely detail oriented;
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively, effectively, and professionally in a multi-faceted organization;
• Mature judgment, strong sense of integrity, and capacity to work with minimal supervision;
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail and follow-through;
• Strategic thinker with excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Openness to working with individuals from all different backgrounds, and
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality

Please send your resume and cover letter to:

internship@phrusa.org

In your cover letter, please Indicate how many hours per week you can devote.

or mail to:

Internship Coordinator

Physicians for Human Rights

2 Arrow Street

Suite 301

Cambridge, MA 02138.