On 12 February 2018, in Tirana, Albania, more than 50 representatives of responsible ministries, the People’s Advocate, the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, the School of Magistrates, the School of Advocates, the Police Academy and civil society benefitted from the HELP/UNHCR course on Asylum and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The aim of the course on Human rights and asylum seekers is to develop a better understanding to Albanian professionals of the rights attributed to the asylum seekers and foreigners in general. It will further increase their capacity to propose changes to the legislation and implement, to the extent possible, existing rules and procedures in line with international human rights norms and best practices developed by international bodies. During the course, participants had the possibility to discuss with international experts as well as national tutors on how the course met their professional needs.

The course was developed in the framework of the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) to cover the key provisions and the related case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) which are particularly relevant for asylum-seekers and refugees. The event was organised in the framework of the EU/CoE Joint Programme “Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Albanian System of Human Rights Protection and Anti-discrimination” in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tirana with the engagement of HELP in the Western Balkans.

The course is available free of charge in the HELP e-learning platform in English, French, Albanian, Bulgarian, Flemish, Georgian, Greek, Italian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish and Turkish.