“Maintaining self-awareness and the humility to acknowledge the impact of vicarious trauma is a helpful place to start,” he said.

“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.

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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.