STAR Birmingham is the student group at the University of Birmingham working to improve the lives of refugees in the UK by:
- Promoting positive images of refugees
- Volunteering for local refugee projects
- Campaigning for refugees
What’s in it for you?
STAR provides the unique oppurtunity to:
* Learn about and raise awareness of refugee issues in innovative ways
* Support refugees in a practical way in their local communities through volunteering
* Campaign with and for the rights of refugees everywhere
* Training provided by the national office – an invaluable addition to your CV and skills.
Background to campaign
Our current campaign is for the ‘Equal Access to Higher Education for Refugees and Asylum Seekers.’ (See ‘Petition’ tab, if you want to make your voice heard!)
The University of Birmingham states that ‘Asylum seekers are required to pay tuition fees at the higher overseas rate … unless you have sufficient funds to finance your studies and pay tuition fees at the overseas rate, you are best advised to wait until your immigration status has been confirmed by the Home Office before commencing your course.’
Asylum seekers and some refugees are currently charged international fees at the University of Birmingham (from £9,880 – £23,350):
a. while denied the right to work in the UK
b. while not being allowed to take out student loans
c. while they cannot apply for grants and bursaries
§ Asylum seekers and refugees do not have the same right to University education as their British born peers.
§ Most asylum seekers are classified as ‘overseas students’, however unlike international students they do not have the right to work in the UK.
§ Asylum seekers and some refugees do not have permission to reside in the UK for the duration of a university course and therefore fail the admissions tests for many universities.
§ Several hundred thousand asylum seekers who arrived in the UK before March 2007 have been told that it may take the Home Office until 2011 to determine their case, leaving many young people in limbo, unable to continue with their lives.
Birmingham STAR believes…
* The University should adopt a fair and equitable approach in providing access to higher education for all students, including refugees and asylum seekers.
* The University should not discriminate against refugees and asylum seekers based on their political status.
* The University’s decisions on admitting students should not be influenced by the length of time asylum seekers and refugees are permitted to remain in the UK.
Our aims are…
* To reclassify asylum seekers as home students for tuition fee purposes
* To provide bursaries and grants to refugees and asylum seekers in financial difficulty
Universities that have amended their policies
§ London Metropolitan, Middlesex University, University of Manchester and Scottish Universities allow asylum seekers to study as home students.
§ Liverpool Hope, University of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University and Edgehill University have developed bursary schemes at their own expense, allowing a quota of asylum seekers to study as home students each year.
What is Birmingham STAR’s role?
§ As part of a wider national movement led by STAR National and NUS, Birmingham STAR is campaigning for our University to amend its Admissions Policy, to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers have equal access to higher education.
§ University of Birmingham Guild Council passed a motion on 29th October 2009 to support STAR’s campaign.
§ This campaign is also backed by Save the Children (Brighter Futures), Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA), Westminster Abbey, Refugee Assessment and Guidance Unit (RAGU), National Union of Students (NUS), UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), and Refugee Council.
Promoting equal access to higher education at the University of Birmingham would…
§ Support refugees and asylum seekers in developing their skills and talents.
§ Positively enhance contributions made by refugees and asylum seekers within British society, and facilitate their integration into the wider community.
§ Contribute to the long-term return for the British economy through those asylum seekers who go on to receive refugee status.
§ Place failed asylum seekers in a better position to develop knowledge and skills which will contribute significantly to the economic, political and social development of their home countries, on their return.
§ Assist in tackling the poverty experienced by a substantially high number of asylum seekers.
Other STAR groups
The video below is of a peer and a member of STAR, University of Liverpool, highlighting what we stand for:
