DAFI Scholarships and Higher Education Access for Displaced Myanmar Students

What DAFI covers

DAFI stands for the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative. UNHCR runs it as the Tertiary Refugee Scholarship Programme , and it pays for a first bachelor's degree or an equivalent qualification for refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR. Since it started in 1992, DAFI has funded more than 18,500 refugee students worldwide, according to UNHCR USA .

The scholarship pays for tuition and study materials, plus living costs such as food, transport and accommodation. What gets covered depends on the country you study in, since UNHCR sets the package with local partners rather than one fixed global rate. DAFI does not fund master's degrees, so plan on other scholarships or work experience if you want to study beyond a bachelor's.

Who can apply

You need to be a registered refugee or asylum seeker in one of the more than 50 countries where DAFI operates, under 28 years old, and you need to have finished secondary school to a standard that qualifies you for university admission in your host country. UNHCR allows only one DAFI scholar per family at a time, so it can support more households instead of concentrating funding in one family.

Two groups cannot apply. If you already hold another higher education scholarship, you are not eligible for DAFI on top of it. If UNHCR has already confirmed you for resettlement to a third country, you also fall outside the program, since DAFI is built around study in your country of asylum or your home country rather than a country you are about to leave.

DAFI for Myanmar refugees in Thailand

Nine camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border have sheltered refugees from Myanmar, most of them Karen and Karenni, since the 1980s, according to UNHCR's Thailand strategy document . If you are registered with UNHCR Thailand, you can register for counselling on the DAFI program through UNHCR Thailand's education pathways page , which lists DAFI alongside other complementary education routes such as third-country scholarships and connected learning.

Camp confinement policy restricts movement out of the camps, so getting to a Thai university campus for classes takes coordination with UNHCR and camp authorities. Ask your camp's community-based organization or UNHCR field office which Thai institutions currently accept DAFI students and whether distance or blended options exist for your situation.

How to apply

• Register with UNHCR if you have not already, since DAFI applications go through your UNHCR case file, not a general scholarship portal

• Ask your UNHCR office or a partner agency such as a refugee community organization when the next DAFI call for applications opens, since intake windows vary by country and year

• Gather your secondary school transcripts and any identity or registration documents UNHCR already holds for you

• Prepare for an interview and, in many countries, an aptitude or language test used to shortlist candidates

• If selected, work with your DAFI focal point on university placement, since UNHCR and its partners typically choose accredited institutions with capacity to take refugee students

Support beyond tuition

DAFI scholars get more than a fee waiver. UNHCR and its partners provide mentoring, psychosocial support, preparatory or language courses before you start your degree, and career guidance while you study. Use these services early. Refugee students often arrive with gaps in prior schooling or an unfamiliar language of instruction, and the preparatory support exists specifically to close that gap before it costs you a semester.

If DAFI is not open where you are

Not every host country or every camp has DAFI capacity for every eligible student in a given year, since places depend on annual UNHCR funding. If you cannot get a DAFI seat, ask UNHCR about other displaced-student scholarships in your country, connected higher education programs run by universities abroad, and any national scholarships in your country of asylum that accept refugee applicants alongside citizens.