National refugee law moot court competition 2022

Despite Ethiopia hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world, academic and legalistic discourse on the topic remains limited. Against this background, the National Refugee Law Moot Court Competition brought together students from eight universities to engage and reflect on the issues of refugees. The competition began by conducting online workshops and training sessions that familiarized the students with international and regional legal frameworks, emerging concepts, and developing literature on the topic.

For the competition, a hypothetical case was developed in a manner that included the most critical legal concerns in refugee law – giving due attention to the context of displacement in Africa. Among others, issues like refugee status determination, application of asylum seekers, forced return of asylum seekers, and standards of treatment for refugees were thoroughly considered. After each stage of the competition, a feedback session was organized between the students and the judges, giving further significance to the students’ learning experience.

The momentum built prior and after the competition triggered conversation and engagement on refugee rights within the youth and academic community. The moot court competition represented an opportunity to discuss real concerns of displaced communities allowing young professionals to identify legal and policy limitations in the protection of refugees and adds an African perspective to the overall discourse on displacement. It also attempted to equip the future legal professionals of Ethiopia with the legal and public speaking skills to understand, analyze and mainstream the issues of refugee rights. FES-FMCC will continue working with civil society and academia to bring this project to a regional level.