P olitical unrest, war, racism and natural disasters are just some of the reasons that force refugees to flee from their countries to an unknown destiny abroad. In Egypt, students have started to help those coming to the country through the Student Action for Refugees (STAR), a student-run organisation at the American University in Cairo (AUC) that teaches the refugees English and various useful skills. According to Sara Soleiman, STAR's marketing and public relations executive, the organisation was founded in the 1990s in the UK to welcome and support refugees at different universities in the country. In 2001, an AUC student wanted to set up an affiliate in Egypt, and STAR Egypt was formed. Refugees started to approach STAR one by one, and last year the organisation expanded to a considerable extent, especially after refugees began to inform each other of its existence and to form support networks. Soleiman says that the refugees typically contact the group through its Facebook page or through security staff at AUC's Tahrir campus in downtown Cairo. AUC students then help to teach the refugees, after receiving training from professors in the university's Graduate School of Education. This year, there are around 350 refugees of different nationalities enrolled in the programme, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa and Syria. “We teach people from 16 to 55 years old, divided according to their English level after taking a placement exam,” Soleiman said, adding that while teaching is something the group can offer the refugees, Egypt is not, in many cases, the refugees' final destination. English is taught because wherever the refugees go they will likely need it to communicate and it will assist them in finding jobs. “They need to have some internationally understood language because some of them don't even speak Arabic,” she added. Last year, the organisation added skills workshops in sewing and handicrafts skills. “These things might be useful to make a living later on,” Soleiman said, noting that the refugees could take advantage of such skills when they travelled. STAR has various plans this year to develop its work. Beside education, group members want to make sure the refugees are doing well in a larger sense, helping to ensure that they have good housing, continuous funding, food, and reasonable lifestyles. They have started to publicise their work further on campus and through university social networks. “Everyone is involved due to what is happening in Syria, and many people have volunteered,” Soleiman said. The university has helped them with a small amount of funding, and the group's members plan to collaborate with different politically oriented clubs at the university to raise further funds. They also intend to contact organisations outside the university for help with funding and will also take donations from students. “The only entity supporting us is the university, which has given us a classroom on the Tahrir campus. Our education department offers training to volunteers on how to deal with refugees and how to handle the sessions,” Soleiman said, adding that the AUC's Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies and Office of Student Development have both been supportive. While STAR is a student organisation at the AUC, non-AUC students have also volunteered. “We are 90 per cent from the AUC, with the other ten per cent of members coming from other universities in Egypt,” Soleiman said. “This is humanitarian and voluntary work, so of course we will not refuse help from anyone who offers it. However, we are mainly made up of AUC students because we can communicate easily with them on campus and offer them training.” From its base at AUC, the group now hopes to found STAR groups in other universities in Egypt. “The further STAR goes, the more it will improve the lives of the refugees,” Soleiman said. The writer is a freelance journalist.
