Declaration of Principles “ULiège: a Hospitable University”

Supported by the "Rendons notre université hospitalière" group at ULiège¹ .

Since 2017, towns and cities have been involved in the "Communes hospitalières" (Hospitable Communes) campaign with the aim of providing a better welcome for migrants in their area.   At the end of 2017, the city of Liège became the first city in Wallonia to declare itself a hospitable city.². This movement, supported by university NGOs and the CNCD-11.11.11, was subsequently extended to higher education establishments. To date, UNamur, UMONS and ULB have adopted this declaration of principles, as have a number of Hautes Ecoles.

The aim of this declaration of principles for a "Hospitable University" is to encourage the university community³  to reaffirm its commitment to a welcoming, hospitable approach that values the initiatives taken by members of the community in all its bodies, in accordance with each of its missions (teaching, research and community service). It is part of an inclusive approach.

The aim is: 

• on the one hand, to improve the reception of migrants.  The term "migrants" is used here in its broadest sense, and refers to all foreign nationals: 
  
  • students⁴, professors, researchers and doctoral students,
  • recognised refugees,  applicants for international protection (formerly known as asylum seekers), people subject to family reunification with a refugee, stateless people following an asylum application, people benefiting from subsidiary protection, undocumented migrants following an asylum application;
• and on the other hand, to highlight this commitment to being welcoming and hospitable in our society. 

The University of Liège, as an institution which is open to the world, keen to encourage mobility, the development of international networks, the free circulation of knowledge, and exchanges of students and lecturers around the world, has often taken strong positions regarding being an open and welcoming institution. Indeed, in his speech at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, the Rector of the University of Liège emphasised the extent to which migrants are an important vector for change.  Often pushed to the limits of their capacities, they contribute to positive change in the societies that welcome them.  These words largely echoed our University's membership of the UNIC alliance, a project for a European University of post-industrial cities, shared by eight universities located in post-industrial cities5, all facing the same challenges and opportunities in terms of inter-university mobility, inclusion and superdiversity.

But the University of Liège has also drawn a stark conclusion concerning the situation of migrants. As we note on our institutional website: 6 "Every day, current events remind us of the extent to which, in many parts of the world, this ideal is being denied and is even being turned against entire populations.  Their journeys are shattered, leading to population movements and permanent wandering as they try to escape wars, dictatorships, destruction, famine and sudden climate change. The only way to survive is often exile to other parts of the world that are worried about, or even hostile to, the influx of refugees and migrants. Challenged at the very core of its values of free movement of people and knowledge, the University of Liège has chosen to react to the many real human dramas unfolding on Europe's borders. 

In order to turn wandering into a journey, to implement its plan to be a "university for living", it has clearly positioned itself, like the city in which it is located, in favour of hospitality and welcoming displaced people.”

For example, for many years, the University of Liège has provided: 

• training courses for refugees: regular and certificate courses, single courses and open courses;
• services and benefits associated with enrolment: a student card, a ULiège login and password, MyULiège, a personal university e-mail address;
• the opportunity to enrol on preparatory activities (medicine, engineering, working methods, etc.);
• French courses for refugees.

By adopting the declaration of principles, ULiège undertakes to reaffirm its commitment and the initiatives it has taken to welcome and integrate migrant and refugee students on its campuses.

It therefore promises to:   

1. facilitate access (administrative and financial) to studies and the appropriate conditions to aid the success rate among foreign nationals;
2. support the participation of migrants in their academic careers;
3. raise awareness among the university community of the realities of migration and improve the visibility of the migrant reception and integration initiatives carried out by stakeholders in the university community and beyond;
4. act as a player in our society by defending the values of non-discrimination and inclusion in a visible, assertive way.

By signing this declaration of principles, the University of Liège is adopting this project and declaring itself to be a “Hospitable University".

 

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Refugees and Persons in a Similar Situation: General Definitions     

Refugees

When refugees arrive in Belgium, they have the right to apply for asylum, i.e. to start a procedure to obtain international protection. During their asylum procedure, they are known as "applicants for international protection". If their application is successful, they will be granted protected status and the right to reside in Belgium, and will then be protected from being forcibly sent back to their country. Those who obtain refugee status are called "recognised refugees" because they have a well-founded fear of persecution if they return, due in particular to their religion, ethnicity or political opinions.  Other people who cannot be recognised as refugees but who also run a risk of serious harm if they return are granted a different status called "subsidiary protection".  

CIRE. “What is a Refugee” Brochure – 2018/2019 Edition. 25th November 2019.

www.cire.be/brochure-qu-est-ce-qu-un-refugie/

Procedure

1. Applicant for International Protection (Asylum Seeker)  

Any foreigner arriving in Belgium can apply for asylum and request international protection from the Belgian authorities. Asylum seekers, known as applicants for international protection, will go through various stages, from the submission of the application to the final decision.  This is known as the procedure for applying for international protection.  The Belgian government examines whether the foreign national meets the criteria set out in the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. 

Fedasil. “Asylum in Belgium”. 25th November 2019.www.fedasil.be/fr/asile-en-belgique

2. Granting or Refusal of Status  

• “Refugee" Statut
  

The term "refugee" shall apply to any person: who, [...] owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, their membership of a particular social group or because of their political opinions, is outside the country of their nationality and is unable or, owing to this fear, does not wish to avail themself of the protection of that country; or who, if they have no nationality and are outside the country in which they had their residence, following particular events, is unable or, by reason of fear, unwilling to return. In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the expression "of the country of which they are a national" refers to each of the countries of which they are a national. Any person who, without reasonable cause based on well-founded fear, has not availed themself of the protection of one of the countries of their nationality shall not be deemed to be deprived of the protection of that country. 

CGRA. "International Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Signed in Geneva on 28th July 1951 (Law of 26th June 1953 - M.B., 4th October 1953) [Amended by the New York Protocol of 31st January 1967 (M.B., 3rd May 1969)] ". 

 25th November 2019. www.cgra.be/sites/default/files/content/download/files/convention_de_geneve.pdf

• "Beneficiary of Subsidiary Protection" 

Subsidiary protection is international protection provided to an applicant for international protection who does not meet the criteria to become a refugee, but for whom there are serious and proven grounds for believing that they would run a real risk of suffering serious harm in their country. It refers to a form of protection that is more precarious than refugee status, but which broadly covers the same rights (work, housing, family, health)(...)  

ADDE. “Subsidiary Protection”. 25th November 2019. www.adde.be/ressources/fiches-pratiques/asile/protection-subsidiaire

• “Stateless” Status

According to the International Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, signed in New York on 28th September 1954, the term "stateless person" means a person whom no state considers to be its national in the application of its law.  

ADDE. “Who is considered stateless?” 25th November 2019. www.adde.be/ressources/fiches-pratiques/nationalite/apatridie

• Family Reunification" Status (with a person recognised as a "refugee" or beneficiary of subsidiary protection or status as a stateless person)

Family reunification is a residence procedure that allows people of foreign origin who have a (nuclear) family member in Belgium to join them under certain conditions. 

Living in Belgium “Family Reunification”. 25th November 2019.

www.vivreenbelgique.be/sejour-en-belgique/le-regroupement-familial

• Undocumented Migrants  

Undocumented migrants are foreign nationals who find themselves on Belgian territory but who do not have, or no longer have, a right of residence (e.g. rejected asylum seekers, people who have overstayed their visa, etc.).  

Living in Belgium “Undocumented Migrants”. 25th November.

www.vivreenbelgique.be/sejour-en- belgique/le-sejour-irregulier

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