There are several initiatives in which students play roles of utmost importance. The most common initiatives in which students contribute to the integration of refugees are the so-called “buddy” and “tandem” programmes. However, there are some initiatives that are facilitated entirely by students, who prove to be a great asset in the work of integrating refugees. Below are some examples of initiatives in which students devoted some of their free time to working as volunteers and by doing so gained many new skills and working opportunities.
A great example of student dedication to the integration of refugees in the academic community is at the
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In this initiative, known as the “
Study Ambassador Program at KIT”, study ambassadors of KIT are themselves students on different study programmes at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. They provide information in different languages (German, English and Arabic) to prospective students with a refugee background. The “
Student Volunteer Coordination” initiative, which started in April 2020 in order to coordinate international voluntary student initiatives at KIT and other similar initiatives in Karlsruhe, is also run exclusively by students. Furthermore, students have created the
Enactus University Group, a group that is involved in various projects for refugees. In an illustrated book entitled “
Refugee Time”, they tell their stories in text and pictures, together with the refugees. Through the
Welcome2Work Project, the university group helps refugees to integrate into the labour market.
Another success story achieved by local students is the
Balliol College Scholarship at the University of Oxford. This scholarship was established at the initiative of Balliol students, as they saw other young people having opportunities for higher education snatched from them and facing uncertainty about their educational future due to their refugee status. Furthermore,
students from Humboldt University have set up free legal counselling for refugees, the so-called ‘Legal Clinic’. The same thing has been done by the
Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, where a pilot low-threshold info point offering legal advice to asylum seekers has been established. It provides general information about the Finnish legal system, identifying the organizations to turn to for legal aid and explaining what fundamental rights asylum seekers have.
The abovementioned initiatives prove that students can play a really important role in the integration of refugees. As mentioned above, when students are united, they can achieve really important things and help refugees integrate into the academic community.
