Abstract
People from refugee backgrounds participate in UK universities at all levels. Some experience practical and psychosocial challenges accessing university places and opportunities and further challenges once accepted. Universities with University of Sanctuary status pledge commitment to creating avenues for people from refugee backgrounds to enter the university community and promote understanding of refugee issues. Some offer bursary schemes to support access. Whilst intentions may be benign, the way that support is delivered may have negative consequences. This chapter considers good practice ideas that universities might adopt around promoting refugee access and inclusion, creating safe and supportive environments for people from refugee backgrounds to study, participate in university life, and thrive rather than simply survive. Inclusion enriches communities of learning. Recommendations are made about steps universities might take to promote refugee inclusion and enable people to make active contributions to university communities.
TopIntroduction
This chapter reviews current good practice around creating safe, supportive, accessible and inclusive environments for people from refugee backgrounds to participate and thrive in university. Recommendations are made about steps universities might take to promote refugee inclusion and enable people to make active contributions to university communities. The chapter is intended to provide people from refugee backgrounds wishing to enter university at any level an overview of support that may be available. The chapter also aims to raise awareness amongst university academic staff, leaders, managers and those working in professional services within Higher Education, of the range of possible support mechanisms.
Literature from the fields of Refugee Care, Psychosocial Studies, Migration Studies, Education and Pedagogy and Equality Diversity and Inclusion is drawn upon, together with the author’s own experiences of teaching university students from refugee backgrounds. The chapter contributes to the available literature on the experiences of refugees within universities in the UK as a country of resettlement.
The chapter is organised as follows. Firstly, key terms are introduced. Wide-ranging potential barriers to university access and inclusion documented in existing literature are acknowledged. Then follows a review of current practices supporting inclusion of people from refugee backgrounds within UK universities. The review covers university level initiatives such as the University of Sanctuary scheme, scholarships and bursaries; student-centred activities such as Student Action for Refugees and celebration of Refugee Week; initiatives by academics such as supporting access; good practice for professional service teams to adopt such as understanding the Equality Act 2010. Initiatives providing support around awareness of culture and legislation for students from refugee backgrounds are also discussed.
The second half of the chapter will revisit current practices, offering recommendations for universities, academics, professional service teams and students from refugee backgrounds, making some of the initiatives, which may relate to and impact each other, even more effective. These recommendations reflect on the author’s experience of working with people from refugee backgrounds in the university and charity sector in the UK.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Refugee Week: Celebrated across the UK in June around World Refugee Day, a week of creative, artistic, educational and community activities held by schools, universities, hospitals, libraries, faith groups, community centres, charities, campaign groups and refugee sector organisations to celebrate the resilience of people from refugee backgrounds, promote better understanding amongst the wider public of why people seek sanctuary and bust negative myths about people labelled “asylum seekers” and “refugees.”
Minoritised Ethnic Group: In recent years, this term has become widely preferred over terms “Black Minority Ethnic (BME)” and “Black Asian Minority Ethnic Refugee (BAMER)” previously in common usage in the UK. This term recognises minoritisation to be a social process shaped by power that can happen to people regardless of skin colour.
People From Refugee Backgrounds: People who have sought or been given protection in another country at any point in their life due to fearing persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. This term includes people labelled “asylum seekers” and “refugees” at present and in the past.
Asylum Seeker: A person who seeks sanctuary and protection from persecution in another country and awaits legal recognition as a “refugee.”
Refugee Care: An academic field exploring psychosocial issues relating to the care of people from refugee backgrounds, advocating for the adoption of a therapeutic, reflexive and person-centred approach to care.