Becca Heller

2010

Becca Heller

Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project

Civil and Human Rights

The Bold Idea:

Bold Idea: Create a system of legal representation for Iraqi refugees living in dangerous situations overseas in order to ensure their timely resettlement in a safe third country.

There has never been a systematic attempt to provide legal representation to individual refugees in the resettlement process. The assumption is either that these refugees are not owed anything, so there is no reason to afford them any human rights or procedural due process, or that the United Nations and various governments that undertake resettlement are sufficiently cognizant of the needs of the refugee that independent advocacy is unnecessary. As a result, millions of stateless people are left to the mercy of host governments whose primary aim is to ensure the security of their own borders. The current system of refugee processing is victimizing, humiliating and incredibly unjust. Each time a bureaucrat makes a minor mistake, an entire family can be doomed to a life of poverty, persecution and statelessness.

IRAP is the first organization to provide individual legal representation to refugees attempting to resettle in safe countries. They begin with Iraqis because they believe this is a population to which the United States bears a unique responsibility. Because the legal process is the same for Iraqis as for all other refugees, any changes that they are able to effect with relation to Iraqis will establish a precedent that necessarily assists refugee worldwide. Beyond the simple innovation of our legal work, they have utilized a grassroots, student- led model of institutional change. They do not establish traditional legal clinics, but match students at various law schools with local private attorneys conducting pro bono work. They then utilize NGO’s and Iraqi community leaders in the Middle East to locate and refer urgent humanitarian cases to us, which they distribute to our network of law students, lawyers and legal advocates. They also work with Iraqi refugees in the United States on a wide range of issues, including interpretation, cultural consultation, and in-depth country conditions analysis.

Biography:

Rebecca Heller, a former Fulbright Scholar (2005), has worked with refugees in both humanitarian and legal contexts in Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. She recently received a Skadden Fellowship to allow her to work full-time on the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project for the next two years. As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, she was one of five students in the United States to receive Campus Compact's Howard Swearer Award for Community Service. In May of 2010, Becca will receive her J.D. from Yale Law School. During law school, she participated in three different immigration and refugee clinics, including one which she founded and co-teaches with two full-time professors.

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?                                                                                      Meeting Iraqi refugees in the Middle East who identified their primary humanitarian need as legal assistance navigating the resettlement process, and discovering that there was no existing help available to them.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)                                                                                                Knowing that there is no other option. Being surrounded by dedicated law students, professors and lawyers who believe in the efficacy of our work.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?                                                                                                     Providing individual legal representation to refugees seeking resettlement from abroad, and using our experience on individual cases to highlight areas in need of broader systemic reform.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?                                                                     Being able to think outside of the box. Refusing to ever give up. Trying everything until something works. Seeking and heeding the advice of people with greater or different experience than you, and learning from your successes and failures. Obsessively reflecting.

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?           Lupe Fiasco, Manu Chao, Ozomatli, Tupac, and the song "Small Axe Big Tree" by Bob Marley

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?                                                                                                         The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon; Pathologies of Power, by Paul Farmer; To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; White Noise, by Don Delillo; Anthills of the Savannah, by Chinua Achebe

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?      

• BBC News
• New York Times
• Craigslist
• Jezebel

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?                                                                                                            "There is nothing more satisfying in life than doing what others say you can't." -from a friend's fortune cookie.