Mentorship – Refugee Educational Advancement Lab (REAL)

By: Amina Iman 3/6/23

Peer Reviewed by REAL Members

“It is time to honor pledges to help refugee children get an education. It is time to turn the tide.”

– Filippo Grandi, Commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Consider this: As of May 2022, 100 million individuals have been forcibly displaced, among whom are refugees who have crossed international borders due to a well-founded fear of persecution (USA for UNHCR, 2022). Upwards of 50 percent of all refugees are children, which, compared to the 2021 UNHCR statistic of 27.1 million refugees worldwide, equates to about 13.6 million children (UNHCR – Children). Of this number, the UNHCR Education Report for 2022 indicates that only six percent of refugees are enrolled in tertiary levels of education in host states worldwide. Thus, with less than one million refugees enrolled in universities worldwide, we need to re-evaluate our efforts in welcoming and empowering refugees. Further, even when refugees do have access to higher education, there are myriad challenges, such as a lack of educators with training in how to accommodate refugee students, complex university admission policies, and a general lack of community support for newly settled refugees that serve as barriers to educational access (Schorchit, 2017).

Initially, it may be difficult to understand why countless refugees seek out opportunities to apply to universities within their host states but then seldomly submit applications, or why the youth who were once known in their homelands for their athleticism never make it to sports tryouts following relocation. The National Education Association provides some answers to such questions: there are multifaceted barriers to pursuing education post-resettlement that are centered around a lack of sense of belonging and supportive mentors. Thus, even if opportunities for refugees to enroll in educational institutions and extracurricular activities did exist, they still do not translate into refugees feeling welcomed or empowered to join. In order to see higher numbers of refugees present in such environments and undertaking opportunities, the leadership and contribution of empowerment-based groups and mentors are needed.

Globally, as host communities, we need more mentors that support and embolden refugees to carry out their aspirations, not just ignite those interests. Even so, empowerment-focused initiatives for refugees must not be replicated per host community but should instead be uniquely crafted to cater to the needs of local and typically heterogenous communities. Such programs allow for growing communities—comprised of refugees and inhabitants of a host community—to collectively expand their knowledge of cultures and experiences distinct from their own in addition to which forms of aid are most successful in uplifting refugees to reaffirm their belonging. One of the leading refugee empowerment-based programs in the United States is the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE), which is beneficial for both providers and recipients of aid. Program leaders expand their leadership capabilities by engaging with individuals of varying circumstances, and receivers experience advances in education and general resettlement-related needs. Further, such programs serve as a stepping stone for refugees and neighbors alike through their multifaceted approach to engaging in refugee resettlement and support efforts. With an intent to create programs and initiatives designed to bridge gaps in educational and societal institutions, host communities can benefit from empowerment initiatives by making empowerers accessible in every aspect: a classmate in a newly resettled students’ high school, a chief officer of a local well-known multi-branch corporation, a cashier at a frequented produce store, or a first-responder. Thus, more widespread and accessible information on how to help resettled individuals fosters a communal desire to see refugees welcomed and ushered toward resources that make success seem possible despite past roadblocks.

Practical approaches to enhancing the refugee student experience, in particular, are pivotal for sustaining their chances of educational and occupational success. Without changes in existing curricula and communal refugee support systems, host countries could be deepening the negative impacts of underutilization of immigrant and refugee communities despite their vast skill sets in the U.S. (migrationpolicy.org). Through refugee empowerment programs, curricula centered around outlining opportunities, encouraging students to take action, and ultimately empowering them to follow through with their interests upon resettlement, can administer the process of uplifting generations projected to remain disenfranchised.

One method through which educators and community members can increase feelings of inclusion and empowerment among refugee students is by highlighting global refugee achievements in history and current events courses. If history curricula begin to include individuals like astronaut Muhammed Ahmed Faris, a Syrian refugee in Turkey who became the first refugee to go to space (Gart, 2017), or if current events-related courses mention that over six elite refugee football players competed in the 2022 World Cup (Kwek, 2022), refugee students can be empowered to persist in the pursuit of their interests. Further, the traits some may be embarrassed by post-settlement: multilingualism, cross-cultural understanding, diverse geopolitical knowledge, and ability to interact with varying groups of individuals can be seen as tools to allow them to reach new heights that may have previously been unimaginable. When students are able to ‘see themselves’ in their classroom lectures and see strength in their previously manifested weaknesses, they transition from being encouraged to empowered and determined. With refugee success and empowerment in mind, local host communities can begin turning the tide for ensuring a future where resettlement doesn’t serve as the beginning of the end for the dreams of refugees.

References:

Schorchit, N. (2017, March 21). Despite Inclusive Policies, Refugee Children Face Major Obstacles to Education. National Education Association. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/despite-inclusive-policies-refugee-children-face-major-obstacles

Gart, O. (2017). Halil Altindere’s ‘Space Refugee.’ Art Agenda Reviews. https://www.art-agenda.com/criticism/239785/halil-altindere-s-space-refugee

Immigrant College Grads are More Likely to Have Advanced Degrees and Higher Incomes Than the U.S. Born Yet Some Still Face Skill Underutilization, Analysis Finds. migrationpolicy.org. (2022, December 15). https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/us-college-grads-piaac

Kwek, K. (2022, November 30). World Cup: From Refugees to Elite Footballers. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/world-cup-from-refugees-to-elite-footballers

Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE), https://www.empowernashville.org/.

Refugee Statistics. USA for UNHCR. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%202021,53.2%20million%20internally%20displaced%20people.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2022, September). UNHCR Education Report 2022 – All Inclusive: The Campaign for Refugee Education.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR – Children. UNHCR | USA. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/children.html#:~:text=Over%20half%20of%20the%20world’s,sometimes%20separated%20from%20their%20families.

By: Jacqui Hatch 1/27/23

Peer reviewed by REAL members

Throughout time, people have fled their home countries due to the fear of persecution, political and economic instability, armed conflicts, and natural disasters. These experiences show both traumatic experiences during flight, in displacement, and upon resettlement as well as displaced populations’ resilience and agency. The literature on forced migration presents a myriad of challenges faced by those displaced, including the lack of educational opportunities in their new host country, yet it is not the firsthand accounts of these migrant communities that are being shared. Rather than amplifying the voices of those displaced, the responsibility of telling these stories and conducting research has been placed in the hands of scholars in the Global North, most of whom have never experienced displacement.

Looking to change this narrative, the University of Oxford’s Forced Migration Review (FMR), an online journal in partnership with the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) launched a pilot mentorship program designed to promote the inclusion of authors with forced migration backgrounds from the Global South. To improve access to peer-reviewed journals for researchers who have experienced displacement, FMR’s issue #70 ‘Knowledge, voice and power’ explores issues of representation, influence, privilege, discrimination, and access for refugee scholarship in publication. Per the program mentees, each of these topics serve as key issues and lack visibility vital for systemic change.

On September 28th, 2022, FMR and LERRN hosted a virtual panel with several program mentees who shared not only their interests in forced migration research but also their own trials in access to publish their research. The panelists included academics, scholars, and practitioners (e.g., co-founders of nonprofit organizations, risk strategists and those appealing to local government policies). All agreed that the most predominant barrier to publishing their research is adequate funding and the implicit requirement of credibility.

This was especially true for panelist Rossmary D. Marquez-Lameda, a Refugee Health Researcher and PhD candidate studying Behavioral Health at Indiana University. In reflecting on her research regarding cases of healthcare access for Venezuelan refugees in Colombia, she explained, “often your perspective is overlooked when you do not have credibility. [A funding agency] wants metrics, but [it] does not always acknowledge that there are factors related to prejudice and discrimination that will affect outcomes.” While Marquez-Lameda admits she has more success as a doctoral candidate attending a U.S. university than her colleagues in Latin America, she recognizes the challenges impeding opportunities to gain credibility. “Sometimes you read these funding announcements and you think they were written for the North.” Recognizing that there is still a long road ahead until access to publishing research for displaced people is normalized, she suggests that the best way to mitigate these challenges is through creating meaningful connections in the field. “Research networks are a great place to start. They help connect academics conducting similar research and provide opportunities to co-author, despite geographics.”

Noor Ullah, who previously served as a Youth Researcher on Voices of Refugee Youth, a project exploring the impact of post-secondary and higher education for refugees in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, described a parallel sentiment regarding issues with credibility. There is a colossal issue with what he described as impossible visa and permit requirements. Noting the clear hierarchy within Pakistani universities, documentation makes it particularly difficult to establish one’s position as a researcher. Additionally, he noted the hostility towards young refugee students in local research cultures. “Research supervisors often act as gatekeepers, determining what can or cannot be published and imposing their own perspectives on research papers. This can result in silencing of refugees’ perspectives in academia.” Among just one of his many suggestions, policy makers must prioritize funding for refugee education, increasing research capacity.

On par with the challenges of credibility for refugee scholars and researchers is the task of establishing identity, a question that has led to much exploration, and at times torment for Aleksejs Ivashuk, representing the Apatride Network, an organization connecting stateless people with the European Union. Ivashuk stated, “I have, and will always, identify as a stateless person but being stateless is not my identity.” In sharing his family’s journey of leaving the Soviet Union after its collapse, he addressed the core issues of being a stateless person. “Stateless people don’t have rights to have rights.” This, compounded with the mass number of stateless individuals, 10 million globally, and nearly 1.5 million in the EU alone, causes a major lack of awareness of who and where stateless people are globally (Berthon, et al., 2022, p. 13). With numbers so substantial, how do we move forward? In sharing his belief on amplifying displaced voices in the political arena, Ivashuk shared, “voices of stateless actors need to be treated as players in discussion, not variables in those discussions. We are not chess pieces.” While the dialogue is essential, there are more explicit factors to be addressed. Ivashuk affirms that racism, state obstruction, misinformation, and any other forms of discrimination need to be exposed through research to end statelessness. “We have a choice to exploit the barriers that restrict the rights affecting the communities to which we belong and challenge the policy makers through our research.”

While each panelists’ pathway to authorship is varied and complex, the key question to be addressed remains “How do we localize research?” It is the same question that James Milner, the Project Director of LERRN, aims to address in the mentoring program. “We want [this program] to act as a place of social cohesion and move away from tokenizing inclusion.” But avoiding tokenization goes beyond just solidarity among those who have experienced displacement. Olivia Berthon, the Deputy Editor of FRM, echoes these sentiments. “We aim to practice what we preach by offering the publication in six languages and are working on procuring resources for additional translations in the hopes to localize [research] contributions.” As stated by panelist Bahati Kanyamanza, the Director of Partnerships for Asylum Access, “local integration is a gradual process with legal, economic, social, and cultural considerations, demanding action from both the individual and receiving society. People in displaced situations must be willing to take on leadership roles and figureheads must be willing to relinquish power. Right now [this] seems near impossible, but there is hope.”

Perhaps the discussion leaves its panelists and attendees with more questions than answers. But to reiterate Kanyamanza, there is hope in access to research for displaced people. Through the panelists’ contributions we see multiple commitments to change. Currently, there are tireless efforts being made to mitigate the obstacles for refugees, stateless people in their access to research. Amplifying refugee voices and their research will create more pathways for future researchers, promoting equity, authorship, and the stories of the Global South.

References

Berthon, O., Ivashuk, A., Kanyamanza, B., Marquez-Lameda, R. D., Milner, J., Ullah, N. “Forced Migration Review- 70, Knowledge, Voice, Power, exploring issues of representation, influence, privilege, access and discrimination.” September 28, 2022. Virtual. Panel Discussion.

Berthon, O., Ivashuk, A., Kanyamanza, B., Marquez-Lameda, R. D., Milner, J., Ullah, N. (September 2022). Forced Migration Review: Knowledge, voice and power: Issue #70. PP 10,12-13. https://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/issue70/magazine.pdf

Tag: Mentorship

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