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Updated on: 05/05/2023
The University of Bordeaux, alongside Bordeaux Montaigne University and the Bordeaux University Foundation, is committed to the UNIV’R - Université project for refugees, a joint initiative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Francophone University Agency (AUF). Two young African refugees are currently enrolled in Master programmes at the College of Law, Political Science, Economics and Management.
Dedicated to welcoming populations in exile, the University of Bordeaux is already involved in the PAUSE programme, which supports researchers forced into exile. Solicited by the High Commissioner for Refugees, the University of Bordeaux and Bordeaux Montaigne University, members of the MEnS network (Migrants in Higher Education - in French), committed to the UNIV'R project (in French) in February 2022 by participating in the first calls for applications in the Middle East, North, Central and West Africa, alongside 10 other institutions.
This programme focuses on creating a university corridor to France, i.e. a legal and safe admission route, allowing French-speaking refugees, residing in a first country of asylum, to apply for a Master degree in French higher education for which they have the necessary prerequisites.
21 French-speaking refugees were laureates in 2022, 4 of whom were welcomed in September 2022 at the two universities in Bordeaux. At the University of Bordeaux, Tidjani is enrolled in a Master in development economics and Ibrahim Soumaine in a Master in international law.
For Catherine Gauthier, Vice-President in charge of the Board of directors and pilot of this project for the University of Bordeaux, "welcoming and training young refugees, providing them access to the fundamental right to education, is in line with the most essential university values. We are happy to participate in this project which is as enriching for us as it is for the students concerned."
I came here to continue my studies. Like any human being, I also have ambitions. I studied law in the hope of helping others, especially those who are stateless or refugees, like myself. Of course, it's my background that led me to study and complete my degree in immigration law, so that I could help people who are in the same situation as me. Being a refugee isn't easy at all. Every person, every human being should have the right to study, the right to have access to healthcare. It's a fundamental right.
I think this Master degree will help me to help Africa. I had a Bachelor in economic statistical analysis from the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal, and I didn't have many prospects for the future. I knew what interested me, though. My long-term plans were to actively contribute to the development of my country, the African continent, and the country that welcomed me, Togo.
Particularly committed to this mission, both institutions support these students by providing administrative, psychosocial and financial assistance from the time they arrive in France until the end of their Master degree.
For example, the laureates in Bordeaux receive a living allowance to cover their basic needs, and access to the ACLEF student solidarity housing programme. The aim is to enable them to complete their Master degree in the best possible conditions given their life experiences, and to facilitate their future professional integration, in France or abroad.
In order to support this initiative, the Bordeaux University Foundation (in French) has raised funds to provide the 4 students with additional income so that they may take part in cultural, social and/or sporting activities that can help them build up a network useful for their integration and professional insertion.
Donors wishing to support the students in their professional development (mentoring, career guidance, help with finding an internship) will be put in touch with the students. They will also be invited to meet the different actors of the project during the events organised by the universities.
The deployment of the UNIV'R project in Bordeaux is directly managed by the presidency of the host institutions, i.e. the University of Bordeaux and Bordeaux Montaigne University. It is part of one of the objectives of action 5 - welcome and support of migrant students and researchers - of the Territorial Coordination Agreement (CCT), signed on April 1st 2020, by seven establishments* in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and is supported by a project manager recruited in this framework, Camille Nau. * University of Bordeaux, University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour, University of La Rochelle, Bordeaux Montaigne University, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Bordeaux Sciences Agro and Bordeaux INP.
Project management
• Catherine Gauthier, Vice-President in charge of the Board of directors • Joanne Pagèze, Vice-President in charge of internationalisation
• Marie Mellac, Vice-President of the Education and University Life Commission • Linda Lawrance, Director of the DEFLE (Department of Teaching French as a Foreign Language)
