Unis are helping asylum seekers and refugees where the government isn’t

As a Master of Information Systems and Technology student at Curtin University, Muhammad Majid, 28, was so poor he couldn't afford textbooks. He would either borrow them from the library – if they weren't already borrowed by someone else, or try to find a friend to study with. He didn't have a laptop either - so he would stay late after class to study at the library. Despite this, he never scored below 70 per cent in a subject. A member of the persecuted Hazara tribe from central Afghanistan, he arrived in Australia in 2013, by boat. His claim for refugee status was being processed. Because of this, he was not eligible for FEE-HELP. Indeed, under his visa category, he was classed as an international student. Paying these fees was an impossibility. That's why several Australia universities, including Curtin, offer full-fee scholarships to asylum seekers. Majid, who already held a Bachelor of Engineering from his home country and could read, speak and write English fluently, was Curtin's inaugural asylum seeker scholarship recipient. He has extremely high hopes for his future. "I believe I've been granted god-gifted talent," he said. "It's not easy for someone who belongs to a refugee background, who never got the opportunity to go to the best schools and colleges, (except the very last one in Australia), and somebody who belongs to a rural area of a very underdeveloped country, to be able to achieve this good level of achievement." Having graduated from Curtin, he now works as the information and communication technology project manager for one of the largest wholesale food companies in Western Australia. He now dreams of starting his own sustainable 'e-invoicing' company. He outlined its premise: "If a customer goes to Kmart and buys something, rather than printing that whole or that big list of invoice, which is a complete waste of paper and ink, we could actually use online systems to record that transaction. "My business model would be focusing on fresh graduates, because I believe the young generation in Australia, they do complete their degrees, but most of them don't get the opportunity to go and join the workplace straight away. They really struggle a lot ... I've been in that sector and I know this." However, financial constraints aside, his path from prospective student to graduate employee was rocky. "I did not have any connections. I didn't know how things worked. Even I didn't know how the university course structure is, and what are the supporting documents required and all that sort of stuff," he said. More than Majid These thoughts are shared by many asylum seekers studying here, as enunciated by them at the November 2017 National Symposium: Seeking Asylum and Higher Education. Symposium co-convenor, Dr Lisa Hartley from Curtin University's Centre for Human Rights Education, reported that many asylum seekers struggle to just get by. She said there's a "big disparity" between how asylum seekers and refugees are treated under government policy. "Those who arrive to Australia from offshore, who are granted refugee status, are given English language training, and can apply to university as domestic students," she explained. Hartley described a vicious cycle whereby asylum seekers are effectively prevented from studying, thereby undermining their employment prospects and ability to economically contribute to society. Scholarships are one stop-gap to this. But there are additional issues. For instance, before asylum seekers can apply for scholarships, they must meet English language requirements, and possess certain documentation. If their English skills are sub-par, unlike refugees, they are not offered free English language courses. Those fleeing war zones, like Majid, might not have the requisite documents. If an asylum seeker is fortunate enough to gain a scholarship, as Majid did, a whole new swathe of challenges arise. Money is obviously a huge one, but there's also navigating the extremely foreign Australian university system and culture. To these ends, Hartley is in the process of drafting a report, containing recommendations for relevant universities. "One university employs a four day a week asylum seeker liaison person … that's a key report recommendation," she said. "A couple of universities do really great mentor programs. That’s [also] been really successful. "Particularly given the most recent policy change where asylum seekers' [visa designation has changed, and therefore, their] benefits have been cut ... [there's an] absolute need for universities to also offer them a stipend or enable access to employment at the university." She noted that some universities already do this. Boatloads of need? Before 13 August 2012, when government policy changed so that asylum seekers who arrived by boat were automatically transferred to offshore detention centres in Nauru and Manus Island, there were 30,000 people seeking asylum in Australia. Of these, how many actually wanted to take up vocational and university study, but couldn't? Hartley says this is impossible to know ("we're doing research on this, trying to get a number as part of a project funded by the National Centre for Student Equity and Higher Education"). Yet she does know that anecdotally, globally, only one per cent of asylum seekers can access tertiary education. She thinks that "certainly a good chunk" want to study, but, due to the aforementioned barriers, can't. "Many don’t want scholarships, they just want to get on with it like any other domestic student," she said. "They've been forced into this situation by government policy changes." Though Majid, for one, is incredibly grateful for his scholarship. "Had I not been offered the scholarship, obviously I wouldn't have been able to earn the degree, and if I had not earned the degree, I wouldn't have been able to apply for the position [I work in currently]," he said. He is also thankful for random acts of kindness showed to him by locals, to help him achieve his education goals. Before his final semester, an elderly lady gifted him $250 to pay for textbooks. To this day, he cherishes her generosity. "I still have those books and I really want to find someone that I can donate them to. Someone who will really need them, in a situation like me."

Unis are helping asylum seekers and refugees where the government isn’t

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Head of Teaching & Learning | NAISDA

Australian Signals Directorate

Assistant Professor in Real Estate / Sustainability / Technology

Director of Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality

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