Two Stellenbosch University (SU) students have created a new platform for refugee and asylum seeker students. The platform aims to raise awareness on campus and create a support system for students who are asylum seekers or refugees.
This is according to Rahma Djuma, a BComHons(Management Accounting) student, and one of the founders of the SU Refugee and Asylum Seeker Student Support Network (SU-RASN).
SU-RASN, which is marketed as a ‘hope haven’, is currently in the process of being registered as an official society at SU, according to Djuma.
Two Stellenbosch University (SU) students, Juliet Saleh and Rahma Djuma, founded a platform for refugee and asylum seeker students called the SU Refugee and Asylum Seeker Student Support Network (SU-RASN). They started SU-RASN with the aim of refugee and asylum seeker students getting recognition on campus, having a network of people who have gone through similar issues and having their issues addressed, according to Rahma Djuma, a BComHons(Management Accounting) student. PHOTO: Ntokozo Khumalo
‘A haven of hope’
The refugee and asylum seeker community on campus is not a large one. There are a total of 75 students that have refugee status in Stellenbosch, said SU spokesperson Martin Viljoen via email correspondence with SMF News.
However, Djuma identified a significant gap in the representation of refugee and asylum seeker students. Djuma and Juliet Saleh, an international honours student, developed a plan to establish the SU-RASN, an initiative aimed at addressing this disparity.
The SU-RASN group is an initiative where members can find people who relate to each others’ situations, according to Bourgeoise Kivanda, a third-year BCom (Management Science) student and a member of SU-RASN.
The Stellenbosch University Refugee and Asylum Seeker Student Support Network’s (SU-RASN) logo was designed by Rahma Djuma, BComHons (Management Accounting) student and one of the founders of SURASN. The colourful hands in the middle of the logo represent diversity, as refugees and asylum seekers come from different parts of the world. The heart represents the love, respect and togetherness of the people who are a part of SURASN. The SURASN aims to make more people aware of refugee and asylum seeker students on campus, said Djuma. GRAPHIC: Supplied/Rahma Djuma
Struggles of refugee and asylum seeker students
There are challenges that asylum seekers and refugee students go through that go unnoticed, said Djuma. The hope of SU-RASN is that it would make more people realise that refugee students and asylum seeker students deal with these issues, according to Djuma.
It is difficult to find a bursary that caters for international refugee and asylum seeker students, said Djuma. The students do not have the option of requesting a bursary from their home countries or options from South Africa, according to Djuma.
The asylum seeker status allows one to either work or study while a refugee status allows you to work and study, said Djuma.
“I cannot apply to be a tutor. [It is] not because of my marks or anything – actually, my marks are better than most of [my peers’] – but because I am a foreign student and an asylum seeker,” said Saleh.
“My hope is […] that international refugee students are recognised all over SU,” said Djuma.
The international office is a place where international students can get assistance with any issue they have within Stellenbosch University (SU). Refugee and asylum seeker students can go to the office to address administrative issues that they might experience at SU. PHOTO: Ntokozo Khumalo