Access Pro Bono and Human Rights

Community Legal Assistance Society: The hotline is co-ordinated by the non-profit group Access Pro Bono, which has more than a dozen lawyers on its roster specializing in areas such as immigration, civil and human rights, and employment law, according to The Chronicle Herald. They will provide free confidential legal advice for people who have faced harassment, threats or violence because they are Muslim or were perceived to be Muslim. The Islamophobia Legal Assistance Hotline is supported by various organizations including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association and groups that represent black, Asian and South Asian lawyers. Aleem Bharmal, who works at the Community Legal Assistance Society and will provide his services as a human rights lawyer, said many victims of Islamophobia face cultural and language barriers and may not be fully aware of their legal rights but the hotline will give them better access to the justice system. "This will cover everything from the defacement of a mosque to physical attacks on the street to verbal abuse at a bus stop to workplace isolation or bullying to denial of services at a retail outlet to unfair profiling by authorities," he said. Dhaliwal said the groups started planning a hotline last year when they noticed an increase in calls from Muslims when the issue of whether the niqab should be banned at the swearing of the citizenship oath by new Canadians became an issue during the federal election. Krisha Dhaliwal of the South Asian Bar Association of B.C. said law students have also joined the cause to combat discrimination against Muslims and other people of colour. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.