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A New Leap Forward: A Step Closer to UNLABELED’s Goal

Before sharing the vivid moments of Day 3, we would like to first share the meaningful achievements made during this event. To maintain close cooperation with ISOW, UNLABELED has agreed to continue working closely with ISOW by submitting a joint pledge between ISOW and UNLABELED at Chungnam National University to the Global Refugee Forum, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2027. Furthermore, Professor Gavin Brockett of ISOW and officials from the Department of Justice of the Philippines have promised to join UNLABELED as advisory board members and actively assist our future activities. This valuable solidarity and support brought us one significant step closer to UNLABELED’s goal of ensuring the right to higher education for refugee students and creating student-led education pathways.

We would now like to introduce the story of Day 3 of the forum, where vivid discussions began with overwhelming determination.

Day 3 | Kangwon National University

31 July 2026 · Building of Social Science, Kangwon National University

Day 3 was held at Kangwon National University, focusing on students and university members. Kangwon National University, Wilfrid Laurier University, the student-led humanitarian organization ISOW (International Students Overcoming War), CNU UNLABELED, and university student participants gathered together to discuss education pathways for refugee students and the possibilities of student leadership.

While Day 1 and 2 provided a platform for representatives from government agencies, international organizations, universities, and civil society to share institutional framework and operational experiences of education pathways, Day 3 was a time for students to understand refugee issues and ponder together on ways to put solutions into practice on their respective campuses and within their local communities.

This was a glimpse of the student-led workshop held at Kangwon National University on Day 3.

Session I. Introductory Seminars on Refugee Issues for Korean Students

10:00–12:00 Song Young-hoon, Director, Institute for Unification and Kangwon Studies, Kangwon National University

Director Song Young-hoon of the Institute for Unification and Kangwon Studies at Kangwon National University introduced refugee issues, focusing on the legal definition of refugees and the trends in South Korea's refugee policy. It was addressed that refugees cannot be described merely as people in need of help through general terms, but are individuals holding legal status evaluated according to the requirements defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention.

In particular, while listening to the presentation, we reflected on whether South Korea has been consuming refugee issues merely as a "distant crisis." Although South Korea acceded to the Refugee Convention in 1992 and enacted its own independent Refugee Act in 2013 for the first time in Asia, it shows a passive stance with an internal refugee recognition rate of only 1–2%. This led us to look back on whether this is the result of having always regarded refugee issues as something far away and irrelevant to ourselves.

Lee Seung-ji, Researcher, Institute for Unification and Kangwon Studies, Kangwon National University Researcher

Lee Seung-ji shared local realities based on approximately three years of experience working at the Cox's Bazar Rohingya refugee camp. It was explained that around 1.2 million Rohingya refugees live densely packed in the Cox's Bazar refugee camp, where return to their home country, local integration, and third-country resettlement are all difficult. In this world's largest camp where 1.2 million people are crowded together, the story that the only remaining option for the Rohingya refugees – who face difficulty in returning home, integrating locally, or resettling in a third country – is opening new legal pathways left a deep lingering impression.

Session II. Case Study on Student Leadership in the Support for Refugees' Access to Higher Education

13:00–14:15 Gavin Brockett, Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts and Faculty Advisor, ISOW, Wilfrid Laurier University ISOW Team

In the second session, Professor Gavin Brockett and the ISOW team presented cases of student-led education pathways. ISOW started as a university course project in 2014, and since then, students have taken the center stage in supporting education pathways for students in situations of forced displacement. The speaker's statement – "A university can go beyond a simple space of learning to become an engine of inclusion, opportunity, and hope when dedicated students and a supportive university come together" – captured the essence of this forum well. UNLABELED, which also seeks to establish a system for refugee students, clearly learned how to establish a culture where students themselves organize and take responsibility on campus through this case study.

This is a case study of ISOW's activities, where student participation and university support went hand in hand.

Session III. Student Leadership Experience Sharing around Key Thematic Areas

14:30–15:45 ISOW Team and UNLABELED

In the third session, ISOW students and UNLABELED shared what motivated them to start student-led activities and reflected on their experiences. Students who had been active in different environments engaged in conversations about how they became interested in refugee issues and education pathways, the concerns they faced while gathering colleagues and continuing activities, and the potential that student leadership holds.

UNLABELED presented how to talk about refugee students' right to education within South Korea's social and educational context, and shared that UNLABELED, though still a small student organization, is working to create education pathways tailored to Korea by learning from ISOW and various other cases. As education is a topic closely related to students' lives and rights in Korea, we shared the point that refugee students' access to education also needs to be discussed in a language that students can understand and reflect on together.

During the Q&A session, questions from various participants followed. In particular, Team Leader Yoon Bona from APIL (Advocates for Public Interest Law) asked KZP, "What kind of relationship do you maintain with refugee students after the student sponsorship ends?" In response, KZP answered that even after the program ends, they remain friends, having coffee together and catching up. They added that there are candies and snacks in the building used by students, so they naturally share conversations while eating together.

It came as an impressive point that education pathways do not end with administrative support or financial sponsorship, but can lead to a process of building relationships and sharing daily lives within the university. As many participants exchanged questions and opinions, we could also feel the passionate interest and enthusiasm for refugee students' right to education and student-led initiatives.

This panel discussion was a place for ISOW and UNLABELED to share their experiences and concerns regarding student-led activities.

Session IV. Small Group Discussion on How to Apply Student Leadership in the Korean Context

16:00–18:00

In the fourth session, participants were divided into five groups to develop student leadership into practical activity ideas. Each group first freely listed social issues of interest, selected one topic they wished to address together, and discussed concrete implementation plans on how to solve it through the power of students and clubs. This activity was a process of applying ISOW's experience, examined in the previous session, to each participant's own situation. Participants experienced the process of discovering issues, selecting topics, and connecting them to feasible activities. We were reminded that creating large systems all at once is not the only way to bring about change, and that translating issues discovered in one's surroundings into concrete practice can also serve as an important starting point.

Wrap-up and Closing

18:00–18:15

The Day 3 workshop started from understanding the legal status of refugees and field conditions, leading into a process of reflecting together on what students can do to expand refugee students' access to education and designing actionable plans. Hearing ISOW's experience, engaging in questions and conversations with students, and co-designing ideas in each group demonstrated that student leadership does not remain at the level of interest, but can translate into action.

Through this three-day forum, UNLABELED had the opportunity to learn from the knowledge and experiences accumulated by universities, institutions, and organizations around the world in developing education pathways for refugee students. On Day 1 and 2, we assisted event operations as volunteers, and on Day 3, we participated as participants and panelists in the student-led forum, continuing even deeper exchanges. Based on the questions and lessons gained from this meeting, we intend to continue exploring and developing refugee students' right to education and education-based complementary pathways within Chungnam National University.

We express our sincere gratitude to all host and organizing institutions – including the Embassy of Canada to Korea, the Institute for Unification and Kangwon Studies at Kangwon National University, the Ministry of Justice, the UNHCR Representation in Korea, and the Global Task Force on Education Pathways – as well as all participants who prepared and led this meaningful 3-day forum. Above all, we are deeply grateful to everyone who provided a space where students could share experiences, ask questions, and imagine the next steps of practice together. We hope that the connections and conversations that begun at this forum will serve as a starting point for small changes that ripple across our respective campuses and local communities.

Participants exchange greetings as they conclude the three-day forum.