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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the UN Refugee Agency, also known as UNHCR) is an intergovernmental organization with a mandate to protect refugees and stateless persons worldwide. Promoting respect for international protection norms in European Union (EU) law and policy is of vital importance to UNHCR, and the agency, accordingly, provides its views on a wide range of issues related to access to Europe, asylum, refugee protection, resettlement and integration in the Member States of the EU. UNHCR's reports, proposals and observations on EU asylum law and policy can be found on this page: www.unhcr.org/eu.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (also known as Frontex), which is based in Warsaw, is an independent EU body with a legal personality as well as operational and budgetary autonomy. The mission of Frontex isto promote, coordinate and develop European border management in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the European Integrated Border Management approach. Frontex’s main areas of activity include monitoring, intelligence gathering and analysis of the situation at the EU external borders; planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of joint operations and rapid border interventions conducted using Member States’ staff and equipment at the EU external borders (sea, land and air), assisting Member States in carrying out returns, and the development of common training standards and specialist tools to provide common training to border guards across the EU.

UNHCR has a bilateral working arrangement with Frontex implemented, through expertise and information sharing, as well as advocacy work led by the UNHCR Representation for EU Affairs, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands and a dedicated Liaison Office based in Warsaw.

UNHCR is also a member of the Frontex Consultative Forum on Fundamental Rights and has played a leading role in it over the past few years. The Forum was established to promote transparency and respect for Fundamental Rights in Frontex activities. Comprised of thirteen relevant European and International Fundamental Rights organisations, this body serves as a knowledge and expertise resource that advises Frontex Management Board as well as the Executive Director in all Fundamental Rights matters, offering strategic advice on how Frontex can structurally improve respect for Fundamental Rights in its various activities.

Selection Criteria

In order to be considered eligible for an internship, the following criteria must be fulfilled:

1. be a current student or a recent graduate (completed studies within one year) of a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility recognized by UNESCO; and have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of the Organization (law, international relations, political science or other relevant field);
2. Candidates who have immediate relatives (father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister) working as staff members of UNHCR are not eligible;
3. Excellent research, analytical, judgment, drafting and organizational skills;
4. Knowledge of fundamental rights and international refugee law and demonstrated interest in refugee protection;
5. Understanding of the EU legal and institutional framework, EU policies and the work of relevant EU Agencies;
6. Excellent spoken and written English;
7. Good IT and information management skills;
8. Flexibility and strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
9. Discretion in handling sensitive and confidential information;
10. Ability to prioritise work and deliver under pressure;
11. Results orientation and constructive thinking.

The ideal candidate will be detail-oriented, highly organized and a team player who is able to work independently.

Work Responsibilities

• To support research on a wide range of subjects related to refugee protection, border management and asylum policy and practice relevant in the EU context, including international and European refugee and human rights law;
• To review and analyze relevant reports issued by Frontex, other EU actors, civil society organizations or the media;
• To provide statistical analysis of refugee and migration trends in Europe;
• To assist in the implementation of various initiatives undertaken by the UNHCR Liaison Office to Frontex, designed to promote and assess the application of international and European refugee and human rights law, particularly in areas of relevance to the work of Frontex;
• To assist in the drafting of minutes of meetings, reports or advocacy documents prepared by UNHCR;
• To assist in the preparation of UNHCR or Consultative Forum-led meetings and events, and to attend conferences and meetings on topics of relevance to UNHCR as necessary, as well as support to follow-up action;
• To assist with other tasks that may arise.

Work Dates & Conditions

The UNHCR Liaison Office to Frontex offers two full-time internship assignments for six month each starting on 1 October 2020 and 1 April 2021 respectively. Exact dates to be agreed with successful candidates. Please indicate your preferred start date in your motivation letter.

The successful candidates will be based at the UNHCR Liaison Office to Frontex in Warsaw, Poland.

Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance to support costs related to cost of food, local transportation and living expenses. Interns should be ready to cover their own travel to the duty station as well as any additional costs above and beyond any allowance they may receive from UNHCR. It is the intern’s responsibility to arrange for a visa and to cover related costs. UNHCR can provide support with the required documents.

How to apply

Please send your detailed CV and motivation letter in English to UNHCR Liaison Office to Frontex (unhcrlofrontex@unhcr.org) indicating “Internship application” in the subject line. Please indicate in your motivation letter preferred start date for internship. Deadline for submission is 23:59 30 August 2020 (UTC/GMT +2). Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to the next stages of the recruitment process (on-line written test and interview). For more information, please check UNHCR’s websites (www.unhcr.org, www.unhcr.org/eu).

The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

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