Sussex Development Lecture: Debordering practices and solidarities: Universities of sanctuary

This Sussex Development Lecture was recorded on 26 April 2023.
Only five per cent of refugees have access to higher education, compared with a global average of thirty-nine per cent. Lifelong learning for all, including refugees, is central to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UNHCR goal of 15% of refugees to have access to HE by 2030.
This panel considers the role of UK universities in supporting the global 15by30 goal. We will examine how growing state repression has been met with resistance from students and grassroot activism, which has led to the rapid growth of the Universities of Sanctuary movement, Student Action for Refugees (STAR) and other practices of solidarity.
Drawing on the perspectives of sanctuary scholars we highlight the complex barriers displaced students face in not only accessing university, but continuing their studies. Join us as we discuss the extent to which these growing social movements offer points of rupture and critique in the hostile narrative of the UK state.
Speakers
Linda Morrice, Professor of Education and Migration, University of Sanctuary at Sussex
Erin Green and Hattie Neville, Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
Bibi Aumeer and Asma Halimi, Sanctuary Scholars
Chair
Dr Tahir Zaman, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Sussex University