Access to higher education for refugees in South Asia

Access to higher education for refugees is not a priority as this is not regarded as a basic human need. According to the UN Refugee Agency, only 1% of eligible refugees have access to higher education worldwide. However, the average enrolment in higher education is now 38% globally. On the one hand, access to education and training for refugees is desperately needed if they are to contribute when they go back to normal life. On the other hand, access to higher education is one way to re-establish their lives and professional identities in a host country. By exploring available academic and grey literature, based on examples from different regions, this chapter first highlights the importance of providing access to higher education for refugees and then presents the common challenges and barriers. It found that legal status of a refugee in a host country, lack of necessary documentation, restrictions on movement, and financial constraints are the key challenges. Based on the key findings, this chapter also outlines some policy recommendations for the policy-makers, stakeholders and practitioners so that governments and other development organisations can make an effort to ease the challenges and barriers of higher education for refugees in South Asia.