Enabling access to higher education for people seeking asylum: a collective approach

Abstract

In response to Australian policies that impose punitive barriers to resettlement on many people seeking asylum, a range of civil society groups have initiated acts of welcome and inclusion, including some within universities. Denied permanent protection even when found to be a refugee, people who arrived from 13 August 2012 are forced to remain in limbo and many are effectively excluded from accessing higher education. A collective of people seeking asylum, academics, students and community members in Perth, Western Australia, has responded by working together on higher education projects that seek to open up the university to people seeking asylum. In this article, members of the collective critically reflect on these projects and their involvement. Its key aim is to demonstrate the importance of lived experience and collaboration in developing and enabling higher education possibilities for refugees and asylum seekers.