Asylum Network

About the Network

	Introduction		How Does it Work?
	Volunteering to Conduct Evaluations		What Qualifications Do I Need?
	Other Ways to Participate in the Network		The Asylum Process

Volunteering to Conduct Evaluations

How Does It Work?

Volunteering to evaluate an asylum seeker can be an important and rewarding way to use your medical training in the service of human rights. Through pro bono physical and psychological examinations, health professionals can determine whether the injuries or trauma sustained by the applicant are consistent with the person's account of his or her experiences. Health professionals can also help judges and attorneys understand the effects of trauma on the applicant's behavior, memory, understanding, and demeanor. The health professional's role in the asylum seeking process is crucial, as the documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment provided by health professionals can provide essential support for an asylum seeker's legal case.

When you become a volunteer with the Asylum Network, PHR will provide you with a training manual, Examining Asylum Seekers: A Health Professional's Guide to Medical and Psychological Evaluations of Torture. We will also assign you to an experienced mentor who will orient you to the network and your role in the asylum process. When a case comes up in your area, you will be contacted by PHR. If you agree to take the case, background information and sample evaluations relevant to the case and the region will be sent to you. PHR also provides periodic training seminars to educate its network members about evaluating asylum applicants. Cases proceed approximately as follows:

(1) PHR receives inquiries from lawyers who would like physical, psychological or gynecological evaluations of their asylum clients.

(2) The PHR Asylum Network Coordinator then locates a volunteer from our network who can take on the case. The coordinator will arrange for the lawyer to schedule an appointment with the health professional. PHR provides information to the health professional, including Examining Asylum Seekers, mentoring, sample affidavits and reports on the human rights situation in the native country.

(3) The volunteer health professional performs a standard physical or psychological examination and writes a report based on his or her findings. The lawyer provides a translator if the client is not fluent in English. Coordinating with the lawyer and PHR, the health professional ensures delivery of the expert testimony to the lawyer for the filing or hearing date with the Department of Homeland Security. In some cases, it is necessary for health professionals to appear in court to provide testimony, but not all network members are required to perform this task.