Legal aid and referral · legal-aid app

Get legal help, or give evidence safely

Runs India's document clinics and tribunal and eviction cases, gives emergency lawyer referrals for Uyghurs and Rohingya facing deportation, and refers survivors to the UN mechanisms and trusted documentation groups. It runs no witness line of its own and keeps its data minimal and encrypted.

Before you start

  • We do not take your story. This site runs no witness line and asks for nothing about you. Contact the services below directly.
  • Facing deportation now? Go to the services marked Takes emergency calls — and contact UNHCR in the country you are in.
  • Giving evidence? Use the UN mechanisms' own secure channels, from a device and account that are safe for you.
  • In immediate danger, call your local emergency number first.
All casesPalestineSudanMyanmarThe UyghursIndia's Muslims

Emergency lawyers for Uyghurs and Rohingya facing deportation

  • Takes emergency calls · Türkiye

    Refugee Rights Turkey (Mülteci Hakları Derneği [Refugee Rights Association])

    A legal-aid organisation for refugees and asylum seekers in Türkiye. It runs a Refugee Help Desk and a separate Detention Help Desk, and publishes legal information booklets.

    Contact: Detention Help Desk: +90 507 218 62 85; Refugee Help Desk: +90 850 218 48 30; email: info@mhd.org.tr; 'Leave a Message' form on the contact page; office: Koşuyolu Mah. Halil Ethem Çk. Sk. No:5 Petra Apt. İç Kapı No. 1-2-3, 34718 Kadıköy, İstanbul. Hours: 9:30–13:00 and 14:00–17:30.

    If someone is held or facing removal, call the Detention Help Desk. You must book an appointment before visiting the Istanbul office; get in touch by phone, email or the online form first. The site is in English and Turkish.

    The UyghursMyanmarRefugee Rights Turkey – Contact (mhd.org.tr)

  • Takes emergency calls · Malaysia

    Tenaganita – 24-hour emergency hotline

    Malaysian NGO whose legal aid clinic helps refugees with civil rights matters, including arrest and detention. Its 24-hour hotlines are reserved for emergencies such as abuse, rescue, arrest and detention.

    Contact: 24-hour emergency hotline (WhatsApp also listed) +6012 335 0512 or +6012 339 5350. Office +603 7770 3671 / 7770 3691 (Mon–Fri 9:30am–6pm). Email general@tenaganita.net. 12, Jalan 6/11, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

    Use the 24-hour lines only for arrest, detention or other emergencies; for anything else call the office or email.

    MyanmarThe UyghursTenaganita – Contact Us (tenaganita.net)

  • Malaysia

    Asylum Access Malaysia

    Legal services for refugees and people seeking asylum in Malaysia, including help with the UNHCR refugee status process and individual cases.

    Contact: Phone +60 3-2201-5438 (Mon–Thu 9am–5pm). WhatsApp & Signal +60 1-2224-5439 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm). Email addresses for general, legal services and outreach are listed on the contact page.

    Message on Signal (encrypted) or WhatsApp during working hours, or call.

    MyanmarThe UyghursAsylum Access – Contact Us (asylumaccess.org)

  • Thailand

    Asylum Access Thailand

    Legal and case support for refugees and people seeking asylum in Thailand.

    Contact: Legal & case support +66 094-498-2500 or +66 097-001-3043. General +66 2513-5228. 1111/136 Ban Klang Muang, Ladphrao Rd, Chankasem, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900. Legal support email listed on the contact page.

    Call the legal and case support numbers.

    MyanmarThe UyghursAsylum Access – Contact Us (asylumaccess.org)

  • Bangladesh

    Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) – Promoting Legal Assistance to Rohingya Community (PLARC)

    BLAST is one of Bangladesh's largest free legal-aid organisations and has worked since 1993. Its PLARC office in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar gives legal help to the Rohingya community.

    Contact: PLARC (Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar): +8801844-610446, af.plarc@blast.org.bd. BLAST hotline: +8801715-220220; main line +88 02-41033011–14 (Ext-0) or 02-41033015–16; mail@blast.org.bd; head office: YMCA Development Centre, 1/1 Pioneer Road, Kakrail, Dhaka-1000.

    Rohingya in the Cox's Bazar camps can contact the PLARC office in Ukhiya directly. For other matters, use the national hotline. The page does not describe an emergency or after-hours service.

    MyanmarBLAST – Contact (blast.org.bd)

  • Indonesia

    SUAKA (Indonesian Civil Society Network for Refugee Rights Protection)

    Legal aid, advice and information for refugees and people seeking asylum in Indonesia.

    Contact: Legal aid requests: legalaid@suaka.or.id. General: secretariat@suaka.or.id. Phone +62 812-1237-8252. YLBHI Building, 1st Fl., Jl. Diponegoro No. 74, Menteng, Central Jakarta 10320

    Send legal aid requests by email to legalaid@suaka.or.id. SUAKA says it tries to answer within 24 hours on business days.

    MyanmarThe UyghursSUAKA – Contact (suaka.or.id)

India: document clinics, tribunal and eviction cases

No service is listed here yet.

Survivors: UN mechanisms and trusted documentation groups

  • Myanmar

    Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)

    A documentation group that monitors and reports on human rights abuses in Burma (Myanmar), including crimes against humanity and war crimes by the Tatmadaw (military) and the situation of the Rohingya.

    Contact: Contact form on https://www.bhrn.org.uk/en/contact.html ; Executive Director Kyaw Win: +44 (0) 740 345 2378. An email address appears on the page only with JavaScript turned on.

    Use the contact form for a first contact. Do not send sensitive evidence until you have agreed a secure channel with the organisation.

    MyanmarBurma Human Rights Network – Contact (bhrn.org.uk)

  • Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia

    Fortify Rights

    Human rights organisation that collects, documents and analyses evidence of violations, including the genocide against Rohingya in Myanmar, and trains affected communities.

    Contact: fortify.rights@fortifyrights.org

    Email first and ask for a secure channel before sharing sensitive details. The site lists no secure route.

    MyanmarFortify Rights – About (fortifyrights.org)

  • Myanmar, Bangladesh, Worldwide

    Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) – secure contact

    UN mechanism that collects evidence of the most serious international crimes in Myanmar for criminal cases. It takes confidential and sensitive information from witnesses and survivors.

    Contact: Signal: +41 76 691 12 08. Proton Mail: contact@myanmar-mechanism.org

    The IIMM asks you to use only Signal or Proton Mail. Contact it when you are alone and safe, tell no one, do not save the contact in your phone, delete chats after use, and empty your email trash. It does not share your identity without your consent and replies only when needed.

    MyanmarIIMM – Confidential and sensitive communications (iimm.un.org)

  • Worldwide

    International Criminal Court – Office of the Prosecutor OTPLink

    Secure portal run by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor for confidential submissions of information. It uses encryption to protect both the information and the identity of the person sending it.

    Contact: https://otplink.icc-cpi.int/

    Use an up-to-date operating system and browser (Chrome, Firefox or Edge). Older systems are blocked. If it fails, try another device or network.

    PalestineSudanMyanmarOTPLink – ICC Office of the Prosecutor (otplink.icc-cpi.int)

  • Myanmar

    Myanmar Witness (Centre for Information Resilience) – evidence upload portal

    A project of the Centre for Information Resilience that investigates, verifies and preserves evidence of human rights abuses in Myanmar. Its upload portal accepts video, audio, images, written accounts and links to posts.

    Contact: Upload form: https://www.info-res.org/upload-evidence/ (choose 'Myanmar Witness'; files up to 50 MB). Email: info@myanmarwitness.org (listed on https://www.info-res.org/contact/).

    Send original, good-quality files, not screenshots. The form asks where the material came from (you filmed it, friends, social media, unknown) and offers anonymisation. The portal says submissions may be shared securely with independent international legal mechanisms or passed on in anonymised form to partner organisations.

    MyanmarCentre for Information Resilience – Upload Evidence (info-res.org)

  • Worldwide

    UN Special Procedures – online submission form (OHCHR)

    The UN human rights office's online form for reporting alleged human rights violations to the Special Procedures (independent experts) of the Human Rights Council. Any individual, group, civil-society organisation, inter-governmental body or national human rights body can submit.

    Contact: Online form: https://spsubmission.ohchr.org/ ; by post: OHCHR-UNOG, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneve 10, Switzerland. The page gives no email address.

    Victims' names are normally included in letters sent to governments unless there are security concerns. They are also published in public Human Rights Council reports, except for children and survivors of sexual violence. Say clearly in your submission whether you agree to the victim's name being shown in letters and reports.

    PalestineSudanMyanmarThe UyghursIndia's MuslimsSpecial Procedures Submission Form (spsubmission.ohchr.org)

For paralegals, lawyers and mosque help desks

The Justice Council adopts an existing legal-aid app rather than building its own, and runs it through India's document clinics and mosque help desks. Its data stays minimal and encrypted. The work it serves in the plan:

  • Months 1-3 · Ummah Relief and Reconstruction Waqf Trust

    Draft the Waqf Trust's deed, trustee rules, sharia board terms, audit and sanctions-compliance manual. Include one ring-fenced, unconditional Palestine fund that is kept beyond any single state's reach by lawful means only, and the specification for a giving app that never holds funds.

    PalestineSudanMyanmarThe UyghursIndia's Muslims

  • Months 1-3 · Uyghur diaspora and documentation groups

    Press Canada's immigration ministry to fill its 10,000-place Uyghur resettlement pledge before the end-2026 deadline, and other host states' interior ministries to make non-refoulement of Uyghurs binding. Offer zakat-funded community sponsorship through the Trust.

    The Uyghurs

  • Months 1-3 · Indian legal aid services and local authorities

    Build the India module of the legal-aid app and a document-clinic guide for mosque help desks. It covers name corrections, roll-revision appeals, Foreigners Tribunal hearings and eviction challenges under the Supreme Court's November 2025 and February 2026 rulings, with priority for women and the poor.

    India's Muslims

  • Months 4-6 · Indian legal aid services and local authorities

    Back families with legal-aid lawyers to file contempt petitions against evictions carried out on a day's notice or without review, and habeas corpus petitions for Kashmiris held after Pahalgam. The Supreme Court has already ruled against punitive demolitions; the captured India–Bangladesh border talks are not used.

    India's Muslims

  • Months 7-9 · Indian legal aid services and local authorities

    Analyse the West Bengal special intensive revision deletions by district and community, and Assam's evictions and holding-centre detentions. Turn the analysis into court filings and submissions to the National Human Rights Commission and the UN special rapporteurs, in place of the captured border talks.

    India's Muslims

  • Months 10-12 · Rohingya representative and survivor bodies

    Ask Bangladesh and Malaysia to keep return voluntary and refuse any link between repatriation and dropping the ICJ case. Malaysia should halt its approved deportations and give UNHCR access to detention, and both should open lawful work for Rohingya, backed by the Trust's camp funding, and accept a representative body chosen through consultation in the camps.

    Myanmar

  • Months 10-12 · Indian legal aid services and local authorities

    Using the legal-aid files, ask the National Human Rights Commission to open inquiries into Assam's holding centres and evictions and into the Altaf Lali killing, and ask the Election Commission to restore wrongly deleted names before the next election. The Union government and the captured border talks are not the route.

    India's Muslims

Working by month 4. Used by: Paralegals, legal aid lawyers, mosque help desks and families at risk. Serves: Indian legal aid services and local authorities, Uyghur documentation groups (Uyghur Rights Monitor, Uyghur Hjelp), Rohingya women's groups (Women's Peace Network, Refugee Women for Peace and Justice), Indian courts and National Human Rights Commission.

Legal aid and referrals — Justice Council