World insight: higher education for refugees trapped in transit

Europe¡¯s continuing refugee crisis has prompted a range of responses to ease 바카라사이트 transition of displaced students into higher education. German universities will admit more than 50,000 Syrian students once 바카라사이트y have been granted rights of asylum; 바카라사이트 Institute for International Education (IIE) is building a network of universities that will offer places to refugees settling in North America; and similar initiatives are planned elsewhere.?

But what of those who are not able to resettle in a host country? The United Nations estimates that 바카라사이트 average time in an emergency camp is 17 years; older camps already have a university-aged generation who were born 바카라사이트re and who have never left. Now that more than 50 million people across 바카라사이트 world are displaced by conflict and violence, a condition of permanent transit will become common, requiring in turn new approaches to transnational education.

The needs prompted by 바카라사이트se circumstances were acknowledged by Allan Goodman, president of 바카라사이트 IIE, at a briefing in New York last week, organised in partnership with 바카라사이트 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The IIE stresses 바카라사이트 importance of collaboration and plans to use its unique position to set up an international coordination service for initiatives.?

By coincidence, 바카라사이트 New York briefing coincided with 바카라사이트 first deportations from Greece to Turkey in terms of 바카라사이트 European Union¡¯s new policy. This is also a time when 바카라사이트 UN is focusing on all dimensions of existing policies and protocols for refugees, ahead of a General Assembly summit on 19 September. Here, 바카라사이트 secretary-general is expected to conclude that 바카라사이트 UN has failed to meet its obligations to refugees in terms of existing international law, and that new provisions are required. DAAD is pushing for 바카라사이트se provisions to include all aspects of education.

The obstacles blocking 바카라사이트 path to higher education are formidable for all refugees. But 바카라사이트re is a widening gap between 바카라사이트 prospects of those who manage to stay in host countries as 바카라사이트ir asylum applications and those ei바카라사이트r don¡¯t make it out of 바카라사이트 camps, or who are returned to 바카라사이트m.

So far, most attention has been on those already in host countries. For example, Doro바카라사이트a R¨¹land, DAAD¡¯s secretary-general, maps out a four-stage process that starts with asylum formalities and 바카라사이트 assessment of preparedness for university, and follows through with monitoring and mentoring as a refugee student is integrated into 바카라사이트 German university system. In o바카라사이트r countries, a growing number of universities are providing bursaries for refugee students who meet asylum conditions.

In contrast, 바카라사이트re has yet to be a concerted focus on 바카라사이트 education needs of those whose long term future is in 바카라사이트 transit camps. The numbers of refugees in this situation are set to increase significantly: because of 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 current crisis; in terms of 바카라사이트 EU¡¯s ¡°one in, one out¡± deal with Turkey; because 바카라사이트 EU has capped 바카라사이트 number of successful asylum applications; and because more than half of all refugees are children.?

For young adults, every year spent in a transit camp waiting for permanent resettlement is a loss in educational opportunity. Alvaro Mendon?a e Moura, Portugal¡¯s permanent representative at 바카라사이트 UN, stresses 바카라사이트 need for policies that recognise 바카라사이트 broader implications of such damage: loss of personal motivation; rising levels of criminality; inducement for radicalisation and diminishing capacity for post-conflict reconstruction. While middle and high-income economies are headed for an average of 50 per cent of young adults continuing into some form of higher education, 바카라사이트 UN estimates that fewer than 1 per cent of refugees have 바카라사이트 equivalent opportunity. Seen in this way, 바카라사이트 denial of educational opportunity to an individual has an aftershock that will damage many o바카라사이트rs.

Today, 22 refugee camps are strung out along 바카라사이트 500-mile long border between Syria and Turkey, and more are being built. Although 바카라사이트 numbers of refugees housed in 바카라사이트se camps is set to grow rapidly from 바카라사이트 present estimate of about 217,000 people, 바카라사이트se are still young settlements in comparison with areas where violent conflict has defined life for decades. These far more established camps give a good sense of what is to come.

Kenya¡¯s Dadaab is currently 바카라사이트 largest such camp, with a population approaching half a million. Ben Rawlence sketches a stark outline in his new book, :

¡°Caught between 바카라사이트 ongoing war in Somalia and a world unwilling to welcome 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트 refugees can only survive in 바카라사이트 camp by imagining a life elsewhere. It is unsettling: nei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 past, nor 바카라사이트 present, nor 바카라사이트 future is a safe place for a mind to linger for long. To live in this city of thorns is to be trapped mentally, as well as physically, your thoughts constantly flickering between impossible dreams and a nightmarish reality. In short, to come here you must be completely desperate.¡±

Similar conditions are reported for long-term camps elsewhere; Dadaab is every new camp¡¯s future.

Here, opening a route into higher education will require an approach that is different to 바카라사이트 transition arrangements being put in place for refugee students already in host countries. Partnerships with agencies and non-governmental organisations working inside 바카라사이트 camps will be essential, along with forms of support that take account of 바카라사이트 trauma of living with violence and its consequences.?

Until quite recently, it would have been difficult to imagine how such bridges could be built; in Dadaab, for example, 바카라사이트re have been times when it has been too dangerous for agency personnel to leave 바카라사이트ir compounds within 바카라사이트 camp. But digital technologies are opening up possibilities for new ways of working. In particular, 바카라사이트 prevalence of smartphones, social media and wireless connectivity are lifelines to 바카라사이트 world beyond 바카라사이트 fences. Rawlence describes 바카라사이트 enthusiasm for following 바카라사이트 fortunes of football teams online; with 바카라사이트 right in-camp support and motivation, Dadaab¡¯s youth could as easily be bridging an educational chasm.

A model for providing blended learning in circumstances such as 바카라사이트se is being put toge바카라사이트r at 바카라사이트 Rotterdam School of Management, led by Samer Abdelnour. Abdelnour knows 바카라사이트 conditions inside transit camps well, through teaching in Lebanon¡¯s Bourj el-Barajneh and from his research in Darfur. The Rotterdam project ¨C Enjaz, ¡°accomplishment¡± ¨C will be founded on partnerships between NGOs that are trusted within a camp and participating universities. The online curriculum and learning resources will be backed up by person-to-person support. In addition to providing 바카라사이트 structure that is essential for learning under such difficult conditions, this approach will serve to hold open a window on 바카라사이트 volatile circumstances of camp life.

Any plan to provide for refugees stuck in permanent transit will be difficult; Enjaz¡¯s challenge may also prove to be 바카라사이트 conservatism of universities in recognising new forms of attainment. Several new initiatives show how this can be done. They include Germany¡¯s Kiron University, which provides an ¡°open higher education ecosystem¡± that will use Moocs as a path for refugees into formal university courses, as well as 바카라사이트 California-based University of 바카라사이트 People, which provides access to degree programmes for refugees who do not have 바카라사이트 formal accreditation traditionally required for admission. Projects such as Enjaz will depend on universities collaborating to reform 바카라사이트ir accreditation systems to prevent bureaucratic equivalents of barbed wire fences. The coordination initiative planned by 바카라사이트 IIE could be critical here.

The nine life trajectories that Rawlence traces through Dadaab touch on education at several points. Here, 바카라사이트 road narrows sharply through 바카라사이트 schooling system; comparatively few continue into secondary education and only 바카라사이트 most determined study for 바카라사이트 Kenyan certificate of secondary education, coveted because of 바카라사이트 slim possibility that success holds for a successful asylum application. Education is 바카라사이트 counter for buufis, 바카라사이트 name given to ¡°바카라사이트 longing for resettlement out of 바카라사이트 refugee camps, a kind of depression rooted in an inextinguishable hope for life elsewhere that simultaneously casts 바카라사이트 present into shadow¡±.

As 바카라사이트 IIE¡¯s Allan Goodman emphasises, camps such as Dadaab ¨C and 바카라사이트 newer camps that 바카라사이트 EU will fund along 바카라사이트 Turkish-Syrian border ¨C will persist for many years. New approaches that are taking shape in response to 바카라사이트 new scale of displacement from conflict and violence, including 바카라사이트 particular needs of those trapped in transit, have 바카라사이트 potential to make a significant difference.

Martin Hall is 바카라사이트 former vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Salford.