As a refugee student from South Sudan, Stephen got the opportunity to study and build a future in Belgium thanks to the EU-Passworld programme, an education pathway set up by Fedasil, Caritas International and KU Leuven, among others. His buddy, twenty-three-year-old Tuur from the welcome group in Leuven is helping him along the way.
Unlike most students in Leuven, Stephen cannot go home on Friday evenings. In 2017 he fled violence and war in his homeland South Sudan. Like millions of other refugees, Stephen found safety in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Through a DAFI scholarship for refugees, he studied nursing, while volunteering for the Red Cross, assisting doctors who went to refugee and migrant neighborhoods with mobile clinics. ‘I also volunteered for Save the Children,” he explains. I provided information to refugees and migrants about all kinds of services and legal issues, I conducted needs assessments, identified problems and helped vulnerable people with questions about education, health and protection.’
It was meaningful work, but Stephen was also thinking about his future. When he heard about EU-Passworld, a programme offering refugees a safe and regular pathway to a third country to study, he immediately applied. Scholarship opportunities for refugees in Egypt are quite limited, so he had never considered this option before, and despite a competitive process, Stephen was selected for one of the three places offered by KU Leuven. Thanks to the support from UNHCR in Egypt and partner Catholic Relief Services (CRS) throughout the application process, Stephen arrived in Belgium in September 2023, along with two other refugees from Cairo, to pursue a master’s degree at KU Leuven.
Belgium wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to Stephen. “I’m a football fan, I follow the Belgian Red Devils,” he laughs. He immediately felt comfortable in his new home. “Leuven is a beautiful place. The streets are empty, it’s quiet, and the buildings are beautiful. It’s very different from Cairo, where there are so many people. Here, I feel at home.”
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One of the strengths of EU–Passworld is the welcome group put together by Caritas International, which ensures that students receive a warm welcome in Leuven. The volunteers in the welcome group support Stephen and his fellow students by providing them with a point of contact when there are problems or when they have questions.
Tuur is part of the welcome group. “I was a member of the Chiro (youth movement) for years,” he says. “Now I was looking for something new and valuable to do in my free time. When I saw a Facebook post from the city of Leuven looking for buddies for refugee students, I was immediately interested.” This volunteer work also ties in with his studies, Tuur believes. “I studied history and wrote my thesis on ‘the arrival infrastructure for refugees in Belgium from 2000 to 2010.’ By this, I meant the places of arrival, but also the things people do for refugees and the services provided to them. In its own way, the welcome group we provide for Stephen can also be seen as an ‘arrival infrastructure.’ Through the interviews I conducted with refugees for my thesis, I know how important it is for them to have people who help them take their first steps in Belgium.”
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“Buying a bike,” Stephen and Tuur laugh. “That’s the first thing we did together here in Leuven.” The bright red bike stands parked at Stephen’s dorm and takes him everywhere he needs to go: to class, to friends, to the station, and to the forests of Heverlee on weekends.
“The group helps me with many different things,” Stephen says. “There is a volunteer who organizes conversation tables. I join in whenever I can. I also go for walks with her sometimes. And I sent my thesis to one of the members of the group, who’s a professor, so he could review it. It gives me a sense of having a family here. If I think of something or if something happens, I just send an email, and someone comes to help.”
Despite the warm welcome, Stephen misses his family back home. “I haven’t seen my mother and brother for seven years. They are very far away, which is hard. It’s hard for my mother too. She’s sad because she misses me, but she’s also very proud of me. On tough days, I motivate myself by thinking that I’m on the right track. And that I can have a positive impact on other refugees who have the same dreams as I do.”
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Tuur, Stephen’s buddy, on the Ladeuze square in Leuven © Caritas/Céline Jalil
At KU Leuven, Stephen is pursuing a master’s degree in anthropology. It was an obvious choice for him after graduating as a nurse. “My nursing studies in Cairo were practical, whereas in Leuven, I’m taking theoretical courses,” he explains. “I have always been interested in working with people from different backgrounds, like migrants or refugees. Studying anthropology will give me more knowledge and skills to better understand people, and to be able to work with people from different cultures. That’s what I want to do later on.”
Stephen also volunteers in Belgium. Every morning, he takes the train to Pacheco 44 in Brussels, the first registration point for people seeking international protection in Belgium. “With fellow volunteers from Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen (Refugee Work Flanders), we provide refugees with information and answer their questions,” he explains. “I like helping people in need. And I practice my Dutch with the other students who volunteer there.” At the same time, Stephen hopes to expand his circle of friends. “In Egypt, I made a lot of friends through volunteering. We were one big family,” he says. “Now I’m going to create a new family here, just like I did in Egypt.”
Stephen was one of the first students to have arrived in Belgium through the education pathway, and UNHCR in Belgium continues to support the partners of EU Passworld to ensure that this opportunity can be offered to as many refugee students as possible. In 2024, three new universities have decided to join the project, giving a growing number of young refugees the chance to continue their studies in Belgium and offering various actors in Belgian society the opportunity to create a welcoming host community.
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This text is an edited version of the original article published by Caritas International (author: Bénédicte Van Paeschen) as part of a collaboration between UNHCR and Caritas International.
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