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For two years after completing secondary school, my life was on pause. I was not unqualified; I had the university requirements and the ambition. But I was trapped by the financial reality of displacement. I spent those years working menial jobs, saving every penny, only to realise that the cost of a degree was a mountain I could never climb alone in my circumstances. Without the intervention of the , my potential would have remained buried under the weight of manual labour. DAFI did not just give me a scholarship; it reclaimed my future from the waiting room of displacement. – Felix Sesay

For those of us forced to flee our homes, education is often the only thing that cannot be confiscated at a border. However, the reality many of us face in our host countries is that the door to higher education has been double locked. In this blog post we outline how this double lock is manifested, and explain how the Each One Take One (EOTO) movement (UNHCR, 2024) turns solidarity into scalable reality, driving us towards the by proving that when we open doors for one another, we reclaim the higher education for everyone.

‘The reality many of us forced to flee our homes face in our host countries is that the door to higher education has been double locked.’

The double lock on the university door is both structural and psychological. On one side, refugees are met with systemic barriers like immigration status and prohibitive international fees that keeping us out. On the other side, a suggests that education is a luxury we should wait for; which begs the question: To what extent is education recognised internationally as a ?

Beyond these visible gates, the path is further obscured by a lack of accurate information and that dictate not just who can enter but who is allowed to stay. Yet, in the face of these obstacles, refugee students have refused to wait in the shadows for change to be handed down. While systemic exclusion remains the dominant reality, a growing countermovement of refugee-led agency is beginning to challenge the status quo. Refugee students are transitioning from being subjects of policy to active claimants of their right to education, proving that those closest to the problem are best equipped to build the solution.

are creating their own platforms to support access to higher education and demand more just systems. At the heart of this movement is the . By connecting refugee students across institutions and borders, TRSN creates spaces for participation that are shaped by lived experience. These spaces allow refugee students to share knowledge, organise collectively, and speak with greater confidence in policy and institutional settings that often feel closed to them. The work of TRSN shows that expanding access requires more than just additional scholarships. It requires meaningful participation. It requires platforms that allow refugee-led solutions to flourish. When a university joins the EOTO movement, they are not just filling a seat, they are welcoming a partner who brings resilience and cross-cultural expertise, and is a contributor to global development.

The momentum is undeniable. The world has seen refugee enrolment in higher education climb from a stagnant globally in just a few years. This jump in numbers shows that the 15 per cent by 2030 goal is more than an aspirational dream, it is a practical reality within our reach. However, refugees are at a crossroads. While our academic potential is expanding, the traditional systems of support are contracting. We are seeing a global funding shift, where humanitarian budgets are being slashed and education is once again impacted. If we continue to rely solely on dwindling government aid and large-scale international grants, the momentum of the last few years will stall, leaving thousands of capable scholars stranded at the gates of higher education.

‘If we continue to rely solely on dwindling government aid and large-scale international grants, the momentum of the last few years will stall, leaving thousands of capable scholars stranded at the gates of higher education.’

Yet in this climate of scarcity, we see hope in the Each One Take One solidarity movement’s call on universities to move beyond waiting for government grants and to take direct, institutional action. By committing to take even one or two refugee students, universities can bypass the funding crisis and prove that the right to learn is not tied to a passport.

A degree is not just a piece of paper; for us, the university is where we get our names back. Displacement strips us down to a single label – refugee – but the classroom replaces that with a doctor, colleague or genius. It is one place where we stop being defined by where we fled from to being defined by where we are going. The tragedy is that so many of us have the transcript to prove we belong there, but our bank statements are what keeps the door locked.

Reference

UN Refugee Agency [UNHCR]. (2024). Aiming higher: The Each One Take One solidarity movement.