The UAB Refugee Campus reinforces the right for displaced people to continue their studies
In a context marked by an increase in forced displacement on a global scale and the tightening of migration and asylum policies in Europe, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has continued for another year with the UAB Refugee Campus, an initiative aimed at guaranteeing higher education to people who have interrupted their studies due to forced displacement.
The debate on the right to asylum returns to the centre of the European agenda following the implementation of the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, in a context where millions of people are forced to leave their country due to armed conflicts, occupations, political persecution, structural violence, and serious violations of fundamental rights.
The entry into force of the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum consolidates a model oriented towards border control and externalisation, with accelerated procedures, which generates concern among social entities and human rights organisations for the risk of violation of fundamental rights. This situation is aggravated by an often saturated state asylum system and the real difficulties that many people have in accessing legal and safe routes to international protection from their countries of origin.
Furthermore, forced displacements lead to an abrupt interruption of educational and professional trajectories, particularly affecting the young population. In this scenario, guaranteeing access to higher education becomes a key element to protect rights and avoid situations of exclusion, while also allowing the preservation of academic, professional and community trajectories interrupted by the violence.
In this scenario, universities can play a relevant role, together with public administrations and social entities, in the construction of complementary, legal and safe routes to access international protection.
The UAB, committed to the refugee campus model
Through the UAB Refugee Programme and the #UABRefugi grants, the University contributes to guaranteeing the academic continuity of displaced people, and facilitate their access to the resources they need to further develop their academic project in decent conditions.
In the 2025/26 academic year, the programme responded to 390 requests for information by people seeking international protection, of which 264 requests came from Palestine. During that same period, 44 students received a #UABRefugi grant, covering all enrolment and tuition fees, including a specific amount of grants from students from Palestine. This data demonstrates both the growing need for these initiatives and the impact that conflicts and sustained human rights violations continue to have on the educational trajectories of thousands of people.
The UAB Refugee Programme offers comprehensive support that includes social mentoring, academic guidance, legal and administrative advice, support in the legalisation processes of studies, and access to reception resources, such as accommodation in the Vila Universitària in coordination with the Spanish government. This model aims to facilitate that participants can continue their studies and develop their life project in a safe environment and with the necessary resources to fully exercise their rights.
The University as a welcoming space fostering participation, stability and opportunities
The action model is based on comprehensive and personalised support, which includes actions such as social mentoring, with 15 pairs formed among volunteer students, as well as training sessions on immigration legislation, academic legalisation processes and access to specialised legal services.
Regarding residential reception, 57 people have been accommodated in the Vila Universitària within the framework of the state programme managed by the CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid), with psychosocial support, linguistic accompaniment, and job orientation to promote their integration. At the same time, socio-educational accompaniment has been provided to 24 young people to facilitate their access to university.
Beyond individual support, the UAB Refugee Programme promotes awareness-raising and training actions aimed at the university community, with the objective of incorporating the perspective of refuge into learning spaces and promoting a university that is more aware of global inequalities, committed to human rights, and open to the plurality of knowledge and experiences. Thus, the university also becomes a space for exchange, learning and collective construction, enriched by the diversity of the trajectories of the people who form part of it.
At a time marked by the regression of rights and the hardening of migration and asylum policies, it requires a shared involvement of public institutions, universities and society as a whole to move towards more just, safe and respectful reception models with human rights. The initiative of the UAB Refugee Campus highlights the contribution that universities make to guarantee the right to asylum and the right to education.
World Refugee Day
Coinciding with World Refugee Day, two UAB PhD students, from Gaza and the West Bank who were awarded #UABRefugi grants, talked about their experience in this 3cat report, highlighting how resuming their studies, even though far from their place of origin and their families, is the only option for the future.