Helping asylum seekers access legal support in Brussels
For someone seeking international protection in an unfamiliar country, having rights on paper does not necessarily mean being able to exercise them in practice.
That gap became particularly acute during Belgium’s reception crisis. From 2021, growing numbers of asylum seekers were unable to access accommodation and other basic support, while specialist immigration lawyers faced overwhelming demand.
The Brussels Legal Helpdesk was established in response. Launched in 2022 by the Brussels French-speaking Bar, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, and lawyers from international law firms, including Freshfields, it provides a first point of legal support for people seeking international protection.
What began as a response to an immediate crisis has developed into a significant collaborative effort across the Brussels legal community. More than 770 lawyers have now volunteered through the Helpdesk.
A first point of support
The Helpdesk operates three afternoons a week, with volunteer lawyers meeting applicants individually to understand their situation, review documents, and help identify what needs to happen next.
The lawyers providing this first-line support are not necessarily specialists in immigration or asylum law. Instead, they bring skills that sit at the heart of legal practice: listening carefully, establishing the relevant facts, organizing information and communicating clearly.
Freshfields Associate Emma Heijmans, who volunteers regularly at the Helpdesk, says those skills can make a tangible difference.
“Being assisted by someone who knows the country, knows the language and understands how the system works can relieve some of the anxiety people are experiencing,” she says. “It makes the whole process much less stressful to navigate.”
Volunteer interpreters are also an important part of that process, allowing applicants to explain their circumstances in their own language and helping to make what can already be a difficult experience feel more manageable.
The needs people bring to the Helpdesk vary. Sometimes the task may be helping someone understand a document or organizing the information needed for their case. At other times, more immediate concerns come first.
“If someone is homeless, we first make sure they can find somewhere to stay and direct them towards the right organizations,” Emma explains. “Once that is addressed, we can help put them in contact with a lawyer who can support them with their asylum case.”
The Helpdesk therefore acts as a bridge: helping applicants navigate the first stages of an unfamiliar system and, where appropriate, connecting them with specialist lawyers who can provide continuing advice through Belgium’s legal aid system.
Turning rights into practical support
Since its launch, the scale of the Helpdesk’s work has been considerable. More than 12,000 files have been opened and there have been more than 30,000 visits. Courts have ordered more than 2,000 interim measures and issued more than 11,000 rulings in favor of applicants supported through the wider initiative, while two cases have been determined by the European Court of Human Rights.
But the impact of the Helpdesk is not captured by statistics alone.
For the lawyers volunteering, one of the clearest signs of its value can be seen in the course of a single appointment.
“You can feel people coming in very tense and then walking out relieved and much more at ease,” Emma says. “You can really see the impact on the spot.”
That immediate change matters because asylum proceedings themselves can take considerably longer. The Helpdesk cannot remove that uncertainty, but it can help someone understand where they stand, what their next step is and who can assist them.
That can turn an unfamiliar and overwhelming process into something that feels more navigable.
The impact on those who volunteer
The experience also has an impact on the lawyers who give their time.
Working directly with people seeking asylum brings volunteers into contact with experiences far removed from much of their everyday legal work. It can offer a different perspective on what legal skills are for, and on the circumstances that shape the opportunities available to different people.
Emma recalls meeting one applicant whose story particularly stayed with her: a well-educated woman from Iran whom she felt she might easily have known under different circumstances.
“I felt very affected by her story and by the fact that she hadn't had the same opportunities that I have,” Emma says. “It made me realize my privilege. Sometimes it really is about being born in the right place at the right time.”
For Emma, volunteering has also changed the way she thinks about her own professional life.
“It has made me more grateful for my day-to-day job,” she says. “It helps me put things into perspective and, in a way, gives me more motivation.”
Freshfields has been with us from the start and contributed to setting up the Legal Helpdesk in 2022. Today, its lawyers volunteer during our shifts, helping asylum seekers without shelter understand their rights and access justice. Their commitment keeps this essential service running.
Claire Devillez, Brussels Legal Helpdesk
A collective response from the legal community
The Helpdesk is also distinctive because no single organization could deliver the support alone.
Freshfields lawyers work alongside colleagues from other firms and practice areas, the Brussels Bar, specialist immigration lawyers, NGOs, coordinators and volunteer interpreters.
For those taking part, that creates an unusual form of collaboration across the legal profession.
“You meet lawyers from different firms and completely different practice areas who you might otherwise never meet,” Emma says. “There is a real sense that everyone is contributing to something together.”
That collaboration has enabled hundreds of lawyers without specialist asylum expertise to contribute meaningfully while ensuring that applicants can still be connected with the expert legal support they require.
What makes the Helpdesk so powerful is that it harnesses the collective expertise and passion for justice of the entire Brussels legal community, and applies it to the benefit of those in genuine need of access to justice. It is inspiring and humbling to see lawyers from all backgrounds, disciplines and types of practice come together around that shared purpose of making access to justice more meaningful in practice.
Aaron Green, Partner, Brussels
For the people arriving at the Helpdesk, the intervention may begin with something as simple as making sense of a document, finding somewhere to stay or identifying the next step. But at a moment when an unfamiliar system can feel overwhelming, that clarity can matter enormously.
And for the lawyers involved, the experience is a reminder that the impact of legal work is not always measured in the size or complexity of a matter. Sometimes it is in helping someone understand their position, access their rights and move forward with greater confidence.
