Scholarship

The Students at Risk project aims to create a scholarship scheme and support network for foreign higher education students who are human rights defenders. Programme should be open to all students, regardless of their field of study or nationality. By enabling students to continue and complete their studies in safe conditions, Students at Risk contributes to their potential to be a positive force for change in their societies in the interests of human rights, democracy and academic freedom.

Europe is at war and facing its biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. The opportunities for Ukrainians to study for free in Finnish higher education institutions, through separate and open study, have been welcome, but at the same time the current solutions are temporary in nature and only apply to one group of students. The situations in Afghanistan and Belarus in recent years, and more recently in Iran and Bangladesh, have demonstrated the need for permanent mechanisms to protect young people affected by violence and political persecution. It is particularly important that such protection mechanisms should be equal for all university students, regardless of nationality.

The project is motivated by solidarity with university students fighting for human rights. Students are the future of science. Restricting students’ access to study also stifles free science and research. Indeed, the role of higher education as a source of social criticism and critical thinking has led to a significant increase in attacks on student activists in particular in recent years. The Finnish student movement has a decades-long tradition of humanitarian and development work, and we consider it our duty to maintain and influence the development of human rights policy in Finland through the Students at Risk programme.