On Thursday 22 June 2017 the Migration Law Clinic received the EU pro bono award. This award is issued by the Good Lobby, an organisation which aims to forge unconventional partnerships to lobby for the public interest. The EU Pro Bono Awards celebrate collaboration between citizen professionals and civil society organisations working for the public interest at the European level. This year the pro bono award was given for the best pro bono collaboration of the year between a law firm and/or academic and a civil society organisation.

The Migration Law Clinic received the award for its project about the Dutch evidentiary policy in Eritrean family reunification cases in the light of the Family Reunification Directive. During this project the Clinic collaborated with lawyer Mirjam van Riel who asked the Clinic for advice, the Dutch Council for Refugees and lawyer Sophie Gilliam of DLA Piper. Together with Mirjam van Riel and Barbara Bierhuizen of the Dutch Council for Refugees the Clinic organised an expert meeting on 7 March 2017 called ‘Proving family ties in Eritrean family reunification cases’. During the seminar presentations were given by several experts and the Clinic students (Rosa Coene, Elin Gafvelin, Francesca Rondine and Veronica Otero). The project resulted in an expert opinion and the topic of the project was explained in a blog on Verblijfblog.nl.