The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) is the legal advocacy organization for refugees and displaced people in need of a safe place to call home. Over a short period of time, IRAP has emerged as a global leader in providing legal aid for refugees and changing federal and state policies through advocacy and impact litigation on behalf of refugees, even in an intensely challenging climate. Already, they have provided legal aid to 40,000 displaced people in more than 100 countries.

IRAP was selected for the 2021-2022 cohort of the Audacious Project to dramatically scale up their legal assistance program to help 2.5 million displaced people worldwide access pathways to safe resettlement. They will build out the world’s most robust and accessible virtual legal information platform for refugees, so that displaced people have access to legal tools to obtain safe haven no matter where they are located. They also seek to leverage the power of systemic advocacy and impact litigation to remove existing barriers and create more pathways to safety.

The backbone of IRAP’s work is its army of 6,300 attorneys and student volunteers who offer pro bono legal services for people fleeing from war, persecution, climate devastation and political upheaval around the world. 

IRAP leads some of the most significant advocacy and litigation to protect refugees. IRAP helped shape the Biden administration’s initial executive order on refugee resettlement. IRAP also led a rapid response to provide information to Afghans whose lives were endangered by the withdrawal of US troops. IRAP’s advocacy helped to persuade the Biden administration and Congress to provide public assistance to arriving Afghans.