Refugees Supporting Refugees: Yoerli, Costa Rica

Many of the hundreds of HIAS staff around the world were once refugees themselves. In our new series Refugees Supporting Refugees, we tell these colleagues’ stories. Read earlier articles in this series here.

When Yoerli suddenly had to pack her suitcase one day in early 2021, she didn’t know what to include. Fleeing her home country, she knew she had to act fast and pack light for the unpredictable journey that lay ahead.

In the end she settled on just a few changes of clothing for her and her partner, leaving behind many things that reminded her of the career she had built over the span of a decade and her extensive support network of family and friends.

Her journey to safety was long, but she eventually arrived in Costa Rica, where she reached out to UNHCR about applying for asylum. They referred her to HIAS Costa Rica for further support.

“When HIAS contacted me, they asked me if I’d be interested in legal representation services, as they believed that I had a strong case,” she said.

The HIAS legal team in Costa Rica then helped Yoerli win her asylum case and gain a refugee permit a year later. They also supported her to extend her refugee status to her partner.

“If it hadn’t been for the legal support I received from HIAS, I wouldn’t be here right now. HIAS was a determining factor in my life and in my asylum process. The legal team arrived at the perfect moment – it was really a salvation for me,” she said.

Yoerli could never have imagined that three years after visiting the HIAS offices for the first time, she would be getting dressed in a HIAS uniform herself. Now, she works as a communications officer for HIAS Costa Rica. As part of her job, she travels to different project sites across the country to document the positive impact HIAS is achieving on participants.

Her passion at work is raising awareness of the struggles that refugees experience through creating more empathy and understanding. “Speaking about refugees and migrants isn’t just about numbers. It’s about people, mothers, children, who have faces, names, and stories to tell,” Yoerli said.

“I love what I do, and I also feel like I’m supporting people,” she added. “It feels really great to see how people’s lives change for the better thanks to the help they receive from HIAS.”