In response to the humanitarian crisis, more than 150 lawyers at Amazon and its pro bono partners have teamed up from the U.S., Europe, Mexico, India, and Australia to provide free legal assistance to organisations that are helping Ukrainian refugees.
The Amazon legal team has partnered with global law firm DLA Piper and PILnet, an international pro bono clearinghouse, to develop comprehensive guidebooks about resettling in 18 European countries. The guidebooks answer legal and administrative questions for refugees, such as how to apply for work permits and where to find housing, mental health support, and childcare services.
The free legal information is being shared with a wide variety of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Europe that are providing on-the-ground assistance to Ukrainian families. The organisations include the European Union Agency for Asylum, United for Ukraine, and the European Young Bar Association.
When the Ukraine conflict erupted, we immediately reached out to our pro bono partners to identify Ukrainian refugees’ most urgent legal needs.
Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their country, and when trying to start a new life—either temporarily or permanently—they have a lot of questions about their rights and what kind of assistance they can access. We can use our expertise and network of law firms to help them. At Amazon, pro bono work is a mechanism to serve communities and NGOs in efficient and scalable ways, and we work to meet people’s needs and provide them with access to tools and resources about their rights.
– Najib Saïl, senior legal counsel at Amazon France and head of the European Pro Bono Taskforce.
