About Us
What we do
As a project, we are committed to ensuring that people with refugee experience have the prospect of staying in Germany and gain access to education.
Specifically, we support people who came to Germany as a result of the war in Ukraine, but who originally come from the global south and had to leave their home countries due to precarious living situations, a lack of educational opportunities or war. Many of them studied in Ukraine, but very few have a Ukrainian passport.
Without a Ukrainian passport, these people do not receive the financial support and residence permits that Ukrainians are entitled to and are at risk of being deported to their original countries of origin.
In Germany, it is possible to obtain a residence permit through a training or university placement. However, this requires learning the German language, dealing with authorities, writing applications and often spending a lot of money. We support refugees in taking this path and building up long-term prospects of staying in the country through training or university and avoiding deportation.
The history of the project
The project “Perspective of staying and educational participation” developed from the “students4students” initiative, which we founded in March 2022.
The aim was to support international students who had to flee because of the war in Ukraine but do not have Ukrainian citizenship.
The initiative was launched by Neele Weller and Maurice Moneke after a group of refugee students from countries such as Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco arrived in Kassel.
Since the city of Kassel was initially unable to offer sufficient support, the AStA of the University of Kassel and the student union provided accommodation at short notice. Together with the university management and the International Office, we were able to quickly enroll the students as exchange students and thus give them access to the university's offerings.
A central problem was securing a residence permit that would allow students to stay in Germany long-term and continue their studies.
In order to provide proof of funding of over 10,000 euros per person, which is required for the purpose of studying, we started a fundraising campaign.
With the help of the student union, which provided us with a bank account, as well as through poster campaigns, social media appeals and support from the press, we were able to raise over 200,000 euros .
These funds enabled the students to apply for a residence permit and continue their studies in Kassel.
Thanks to these joint efforts, we were able to offer the affected students not only short-term support, but also create a perspective for their academic future. This developed into a long-term commitment under the name "Bleibeperspektive Bildungsteilhabe"
Our vision
Entry regulations for people on the run are becoming increasingly stricter, as can be seen at the GEAS, for example.
We as students at the University of Kassel see it as our civil society duty to set an example of solidarity for people in precarious living situations and therefore to welcome and support refugee students at the University of Kassel.
Together with you, we want to create a tolerant campus where access to education is not determined by origin or nationality, but by the will to learn and achieve one's potential.
Our vision is to create a sustainable prospect of staying and educational participation for as many people as possible and to counteract the shift to the right in our society with social cohesion.
Education as empathy
Increase donations across Germany
Helping more students with refugee experience achieve their educational goals
The team
We are a young team of students from the universities of Kassel and Vienna who are passionate about supporting refugees