University of Michigan Asylum Collaborative
Every year, more than 40,000 people flee torture and unbearable persecution in their home country and seek safety in the U.S.
The mission of this student-led initiative is to advocate for victims and survivors of human rights violations and serve as a voice for those who have limited access to such resources.
Our Goals
In partnership with the University of Michigan Law School, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and community organizations such as Freedom House Detroit, UMAC facilitates inter-professional collaboration between pro-bono legal and medical providers to conduct forensic evaluations and medical affidavits for asylum, human trafficking, and other legal cases in which survivors of human rights abuses are seeking legal protection such as asylum status.
Our Collaborations
UMAC is, at its core, a collaborative effort. On an organizational scale students, physicians, and advisors work together to determine the trajectory of the organization. More broadly, UMAC is at the confluence of organizations providing services to those seeking asylum and other forms of immigration status, including organizations that provide temporary relief for asylum seekers, and those that provide legal services.
We are always seeking new partners to help provide services to asylum seekers and others.
Freedom House Detroit is a temporary home for survivors of persecution from around the world seeking legal asylum in the United States and Canada. They are the only agency in the United States that provides all services needed by those fleeing persecution in their home country. Since 2012, Freedom House has also assisted victims of human trafficking.
For more than twenty years, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has been at the forefront of protecting the right to live in safety. The Asylum Program’s unique model provides direct service to asylum seekers, advocates for improved conditions in U.S. immigration detention centers, and documents human rights abuses that immigrants suffer in their home countries and in U.S. care.
“To be called a refugee is the opposite of an insult; it is a badge of strength, courage, and victory…”
— Tennessee Office for Refugees
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