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Lawyers must overcome ‘burnout, compassion fatigue’ with refugee issues
Lawyers are “uniquely placed” to assist the most vulnerable members of our society, and thus need to ensure they are in a position to offer legal services, according to two United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees officers.
Jerome Doraisamy
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, UNHCR protection officer and lawyer Campbell MacKnight said that while symptoms associated with vicarious trauma from distressing content — such as “so-called burnout and compassion fatigue” — were common among lawyers working in refugee law, prevention of the issues affecting those vulnerable persons is the best cure.
“While partners, family members and friends can all play a role as part of a robust support network, institutional and peer support is essential.”
Lawyers and legal institutions, thus, have a shared responsibility to create a working environment which fosters resilience and engenders trust, he argued.
“Empathy is mostly a positive motivator. Yet maintaining a professional distance when handling individual cases is necessary, not only from the perspective of legal ethics, but to ensure sound judgment,” he posited.
“A variety of measures can be encouraged to promote resilience, from flexible working arrangements, to systems of rotating responsibilities, and activities which promote physical and mental health.”
It is no exaggeration, he said, to state that refugee protection saves lives, and therefore ensuring lawyers are equipped to manage such case material is crucial.
UNHCR spokesperson Catherine Stubberfield said lawyers play a “critical role” in contributing not only to direct legal assistance, but to public policy and debate.
This is because they are “uniquely placed to help defend the most fundamental safeguards and protections”, she noted, including asylum, family unity and proper access to justice.
“As trusted leaders in the community, lawyers can also really help the broader public to understand dispassionate facts that have, in many ways, been forgotten or obscured,” she said.
“Whatever one thought of the original motivations for offshore processing of refugees, the human cost has been far too high. Their continued suffering, with no end yet in sight for many, needs to be urgently brought to an end.”
“The legal community can help greatly with fostering greater understanding and bring about much-needed change,” she concluded.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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