In Focus: Arash Bordbar
28 January 2021
Arash Bordbar is an Associate Education Officer at UNHCR and the chair of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, and the former co-chair of UNHCR’s Global Youth Advisory Council. He is also the Employment and Enterprise Officer at the Community Migrant Resource Center in Sydney, Australia. He was awarded the Young People Human Rights Medal for his advocacy on education and human rights. Arash has also been the Peace Ambassador for One Young World and a member of the Amnesty Refugee Advisory Group which works on refugee resettlement.
In each of his roles, Arash works to advocate for refugees, especially in higher education, and to provide youth with opportunities to connect with institutions of higher learning. A native of Iran, Arash and his family fled to Malaysia due to political persecution and were later resettled in Australia, where Arash completed his university education.
Arash spoke with REACH team member Sarzah Yeasmin about his personal and educational journey and the important role that higher education institutions play in creating welcoming communities and spaces of belonging for refugees.
What inspired you to work in the field of higher education for refugees?
I am originally from Iran and was a refugee myself with my mother and brother. We lived in Malaysia for five years and went through the entire asylum-seeking process. That is where it all started. When I was in Iran, I always had a passion for education and I excelled in my academics. But things did not turn out as expected. My family had to flee Iran due to political persecution. We left Iran within a day.
One moment I was in high school and the next I was in Malaysia, a country where I was not allowed to study. Malaysia did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, which means that, as a refugee, I did not have the right to education, employment, or health care. My mother found a way for me and my brother to finish our high school online at an Iranian school. She worked two shifts to pay for our studies. The challenges of obtaining an education online were tremendous. It was my first time studying by myself. I was managing my studies as I worked on the side. It felt like an empty space in my heart. There was also no pathway to university as we were considered illegal immigrants. Losing everything that I had worked hard for was difficult to take in as a 16-year-old.
After four and a half years in Malaysia, we received a call from UNHCR about resettlement. Australia was willing to take us. It was a big surprise. You never know if resettlement will happen. It was like winning a lottery. The first thing I did when we arrived was to work with the resettlement organization to find a way to access education. The first six universities I applied to rejected me because my high school degree was Iranian. But being quite persistent, I re-applied and the seventh university got me in through a college pathway. This was the beginning of my new journey. My passion for education led to my work with the UNHCR and my global advocacy work for higher education.
“I did not want to be defined by what happened to me; I wanted to be defined by what I could do.”
How do you ensure refugee students feel supported in your work as the Employment and Enterprise Officer at the Community Migrant Resource Center?
I focus on three pillars: education, employment, and community participation. When refugees come to a new country, they are inundated with many responsibilities including translating documents, navigating a new place, finding a house, and taking care of their families. When I first came to Australia, I was told not to bother about education, that I would fail if I start early. I was asked to take some time off. But because I made it, I can tell young refugees that it is possible and help them find pathways to higher education.
One of the programs we run is called Discovery Mentoring. Through this initiative we pay young refugees who have graduated to tutor and help other refugees. We have around 20 mentors helping refugee youth with challenges of being in new settings. This type of one-to-one support has been helpful as one young person connects with another young person.
In your role as the former co-chair of UNHCR’s Global Youth Advisory Board and now as the chair of Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, do you see any disconnect between the issues policymakers focus on and the issues experienced by refugee students in higher education?
Previously, refugees were only seen as beneficiaries and recipients of help. That is why many problems surrounding displaced communities have never been solved. Consultation, engagement, and meaningful participation by refugee youth were happening at marginal levels. As a result, policymakers had little understanding of what refugees thought about solutions. I see a shift in the policy world now. Refugees are coming up with recommendations and solutions and are part of the problem-solving process.
For instance, UNHCR is engaging with refugee youth and that is why we have the Global Youth Advisory Council. One of our biggest achievements as a Council was to provide input on the Global Compact for Refugees document. We increased the youth portfolio significantly to center the focus of the document on helping displaced youth around the world.
But we still have a long way to go. When young people emerge from a shocking experience, they might be living in a limbo for some time, but they still have their skills, experience, knowledge, and expertise. The international community has a lot of lost opportunities from not engaging with refugee youth.
What role do you believe higher education institutions have in creating welcoming communities for refugees?
Higher education can bring different stakeholders together. Higher education institutions not only provide resources but could also play a vital role in the peacebuilding process. Universities are places of unity and diversity and are respected by the private sector and the government. They represent the youth of the country. Universities need to be held accountable on their social impact and responsibility to support youth and include youth. I envision that institutions of higher learning will take a prominent role and be proactive in creating inclusion, and I am interested in exploring how we can use higher education to support the humanitarian sector.
When I started university, I felt I was not only getting a degree for myself: It was for the many refugee youth with dreams. I did not want to be defined by what happened to me; I wanted to be defined by what I could do. I am hopeful about tackling narratives surrounding refugees as more and more refugee youth become doctors, engineers, and nurses and contribute to their host communities. I am also hopeful as I see refugees playing a stronger role in contributing to their own solutions.