Refugee learners in Malaysia find education difficult to reach. According to UNHCR Malaysia, only 27% of refugees between the age of 14–17 are currently studying, which is three times lower than Malaysia’s secondary school enrolment rate. Against the backdrop of finite opportunities, they live in precarity, constantly vulnerable to arbitrary abuse, arrest, and detention by immigration authorities.
What is the future for refugee learners in Malaysia? How can we fight for their right to higher education? Join us as we discuss these questions with Joshua Low and Abdulmajid Chahrour, to understand the challenges refugees face in the path to a better future.
For a deeper understanding on the topic and more interesting insights, don’t miss out Joshua’s explainer on The Higher Education Labyrinth for Refugee Learners in Peninsular Malaysia.
Joshua Low is a social anthropologist, journalist, and advocate working on migration issues in Malaysia and Ecuador. Intrigued by questions of home, belonging, and citizenship, he completed two master’s degrees in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies and in Social Anthropology as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He is currently carrying out ethnographic fieldwork on amnesty programs and rising xenophobia in Ecuador.
Abdulmajid Chahrour is the Programs Director at Fugee, an organisation based in Malaysia that provides education and youth support services to refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia. After working in a number of NGO organisations, he has gained expertise in non-governmental organisational strategy to deliver lasting positive impacts in the community. Abdulmajid oversees the vision, strategy, goal setting, planning, evaluation, budgeting and operations of all Fugee programmes. Since joining Fugee, one of his notable achievements is the establishment of Malaysia’s first higher education scholarship fund for refugees.
This event is free for all members. Non-members can purchase a $5 ticket that includes a month of New Naratif membership.
Artwork by Xiao Ming Tang.
