Today is World Refugee Day which falls each year on 20 June to honour refugees around the globe. It was held for the first time on 20 June 2001, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. This rights-based instrument is a cornerstone of international refugee protection and constitutes the legal basis for the access of refugees to education under Article 22.
Since 1998, Refugee Week is held every year around World Refugee Day. Founded in the United Kingdom, many countries joined this growing international movement in 2023 to raise awareness of refugees and asylum seekers through a program of arts, cultural, sports and educational events.
Refugee Week Australia dates back to the 1980s. This year, it hosts engaging discussions on refugees’ access to higher education. Hon. Prof. Verity Firth, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Inclusion) at the University of Technology Sydney, led a panel session with scholars (Olga Oleinikova, Sally Baker, Tebeje Molla), advocate (Asher Hirst) and refugee student (Amir Ali Jalai Farahani) on Australian universities’ role in the humanitarian crisis. As an outcome of the panel discussion, an article was published to advocate more engagement in Australia following European examples. Another webinar discussed the topic of “Overcoming Barriers to Higher Education for Refugees and People Seeking Asylum”. Hosted by the National Council of Churches Refugee Taskforce, it presented two educational initiatives for refugees: the Deakin CREATE led by Dr Karen Dunwoodie and the Hope-Co-operative run by Sally Morgan.
Veronika Durin-Hornyik, PhD