The UAB Refugee Programme ends the year with group activities

On 18 June, the UAB Refugee Programme ended the 2025/26 academic year with a community event that took place at the UAB's Plaça Cívica and that brought together more than 50 people, including volunteers, participants and the technical team. The event served to look back on the year, share experiences, highlight the work done during the course, and strengthen community building around the programme.

The event included a community lunch and the creation of a collective mandala inspired by artistic traditions of various indigenous communities in Latin America, and served to symbolise cultural diversity and the bonds formed throughout the year. The activity was a space for participation and collective expression based on the construction of community, mutual respect, exchange and coexistence.

Eddy Laverde, technical director of cooperation and education for global justice at the Fundació Autònoma Solidària (FAS), gave a good assessment: “the spirit of the meeting was to enjoy the process that has taken place throughout the year”. He also highlighted that it had been "a very enriching day and a commitment to the future to continue generating these meeting spaces for the next academic year”.

He also pointed out that this event strengthened the connection with community initiatives such as La Floresta contra Fronteres, an organisation that will receive the money raised in the "Masha-El Falesteen" Community Days for Young Palestinians, which are held from 1 to 6 July.

Mireia Cano, lead caseworker for the Temporary Reception Programme of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission (CEAR) at the UAB Vila Universitària, also praised the organisation of the event, saying that it "was especially important in order to celebrate 20J (World Refugee Day) and to mark the end of the year with a community gathering". Regarding the activity carried out, she expressed that "it was a very creative idea, full of the awareness that we must have in this unjust and unequal world".

A year of support and participation

One of the pillars of the Refugee Programme is the inclusion line, which has social mentoring as one of its most outstanding initiatives. The programme brings together international protection applicants residing in the Vila Universitària, students who are beneficiaries of the #UABRefugi grants, and volunteers from the Fundació Autònoma Solidària (FAS) to generate spaces for meeting, support and participation among the university community.

This academic year, a total of 19 mentoring pairs were formed and four group activities were organised. Among the activities, one that stands out was the painting of a collective mural on the steps of the Theatre Hall in the Plaça Cívica, as part of Human Rights Week, and which included the collaboration of the artist MAGA.

The UAB, a #CampusRefugi

With regard to access to higher education courses, there are currently 43 refugee students or international protection applicants studying at the UAB thanks to the #UABRefugi grants programme. The 2026/27 academic year will include some 50 to 60 students who will receive a grant covering enrolment and tuition fees, both for students continuing their studies and for new admissions.

At the same time, the university has opened a new call specifically for students from Palestine. This initiative has allowed enrolling five new students, while the necessary arrangements are being made with the competent authorities to enable their safe departure from the Gaza Strip and their incorporation into the programme. The call also guarantees the academic continuity of the four Palestinian students who were already part of the programme.

These grants are complemented by socio-academic support, legal advice and coordination with professionals in the field of mental health, with the aim of facilitating the continuity of the academic and personal projects of the participants.

Awareness and networking

Awareness-raising and education continue to be strategic lines within the programme. Throughout the academic year, over 500 undergraduate, graduate and PhD students took part in workshops, film forums and Education for a Global Justice activities focusing on forced displacements, the right to asylum, and international protection.

Among the most well-received proposals was the screening of the documentary No Other Land at the UAB Cinema Hall, consistently reaching full capacity during the first semester.

The Refugee Programme also worked on strengthening advocacy and networking with other universities and social entities. In October 2025 the UAB Rectorat building hosted the conference “Ten years of Universities and Refugees", a commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the joint statement by Catalan universities expressing their support for refugees. The meeting brought together representatives of Catalan public universities, public administrations, specialised entities, and refugees, with the aim of strengthening institutional and social coordination in defense of the right to asylum and education.

With the results achieved this academic year, the Refugee Programme continues to consolidate its role as a leading space within the university community, promoting inclusion, access to higher education, and the defense of human rights through support, participation, and the construction of support networks.