Exploring Higher Education Issues from Syrian Students

Fleeing War Zones: A Perspective of Syrian Students’

Community in Malaysian Universities

Uzma Rani
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang
uzma_rajaahmed@hotmail.com
uzmarani@student.usm.my

Prof. Dr. Azlinda Binti Azman

Dean School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang
dean_soc@usm.my

Presentation type
 Roundtable

Abstract:
World has seen many events of displacements since World War II. The recent Syrian
war in 2011 left on more mark of worst displacement in history. Many researches
have explored the phenomenon in different ways. However, evidence on the
relationship between forced migration and educational experiences of refugees is
very thin. One of the important points to understand is that the transition to university
for refugees is to appreciate the context of their pre and post migration conditions.
Based on a literature search for this study, it was noted that there is a lack of studies
on refugee students studying in Malaysia or in other parts of the world and also very
few literature is available on refugee students in the Asian region. Most studies on
refugees in Asia mainly focused on state policies and larger socio-political
developments affecting refugees. Studies carried out in the West have generally
focused on written and spoken media and political discourses. There was the scarcity
of studies conducted on refugee representation specially student population in
countries that are non-signatories to the UNHCR Refugee Convention. Most of the
researches in this area come from UNCHR signatories, such as European and North
American countries and Australia. There is a lack of studies that foregrounds the
voices of refugees’ students alongside both elite and non-elite voices when it comes
to refugee psychosocial and educational issues and needs. This study intends to get
a perspective directly from refugee students and to quote the solution to the issue
from their perspective. It would be of great help and addition to the existing literature
of the refugees and for policy makers to build better world for the refugees in host
countries.
Subtheme: Access to Education

Forced displacement and refugee phenomenon could be traced back since World War II. If we
go through literature of the refugees and their problems we can see that most of the studies
have focused on the food, shelter, political and regional issues of the refugees. A very few
literature addresses the educational issues and needs of the refugees. A very large proportion
of students are disturbed due to war and displacement issues.

As a researcher I can relate my work to a number of sub themes of HERDSA, it could fall
under the subthemes of:

 Internationalization
 Access to education
 Well-being and success
 Social justice
 Sustainability
 Collaboration
When we talk about refugees we talk about social just and access to the basic needs and also
we talk about access to the education so that their future would be better than the present. I
want my work to fall under “Access to education”. As a host country one must provide the
education according to the eligibility of the newcomers as the education is the basic right of
any human being. And in such stressful situations, access to education is a ray of hope for the
refugees who can made their tomorrow better.