Students seeking sanctuary in the UK have said being offered university scholarships made them "feel like members of society again...
Students seeking sanctuary in the UK have said being offered university scholarships made them "feel like members of society again".
The University of Sanctuary bursary was set up to offer the chance of higher education to people fleeing conflict and persecution.
Scholar and third year law student Taina Maneus said: "Finally I'm feeling free, like a citizen again."
Many recipients are continuing their asylum claims while studying in the UK.
Miss Maneus, 22, who left Haiti for the UK in 2016, remembered crying with joy on receiving the scholarship, which has enabled her to study at the University of Bristol.
"Finally I'm feeling like I'm getting back into society, like I felt like in my own country, like a citizen," she said,
Miss Maneus was 16 when she joined her father who was working in the UK, hoping for better education opportunities and a safer environment.
But their relationship broke down and she was taken into care and served a deportation order.
Her solicitors did not arrive during her appeal so she had to represent herself which gave her a taste for the profession.
She was granted limited leave to remain during her studies and hopes to be granted indefinite leave to remain afterwards.
'Sub-Human'
While studying law at college in Sheffield, she saw herself "as the person with the lowest level of English" but by working hard she achieved the "best grades", although she still felt "like a sub-human".
She wanted to go to university but knew it was too expensive.
However, her personal advisor - appointed to her when she was leaving the care system - told her about sanctuary scholarships.
"The possibilities made me feel like a person again," she said.
"I felt like… I can see my future and going to university and going in court.
"Law has been what I wanted to do since I was in Haiti because there is so much injustice."
She is looking forward to "becoming a lawyer, fulfilling my dreams"… and protecting people in "the same situation as me."
Sheila Jerome is studying for a BSc in Social Work, funded through the sanctuary programme.
The mother-of-four is from Nigeria and came to the UK with her husband in 2013 for him to study.
Although originally not planning to stay, the gradual understanding of the gender-based violence their daughters faced in Nigeria moved them to apply for asylum.
"When I started to understand that FGM [female genital mutilation] is against human rights and a type of gender abuse, that changed things for me," she said.
Shortly after, Mrs Jerome looked for study options.
"I felt that I would never be able to afford to go to university [in the UK] and… was told it was not possible for someone who doesn't speak good English… which was discriminatory." - from source bbc.com
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