The needs of hundreds of academic refugees will receive greater international recognition, following discussions by university executive heads.

ACU members took a major step towards supporting persecuted scholars globally, by agreeing a new collaboration with the London-based Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA). The initiative followed a presentation by Professor John Akker, Executive Secretary of CARA, at the ACU Conference of Executive Heads in Hong Kong today.

Initial actions involve the establishment of a new ACU-CARA network, through which member universities can nominate a representative as their main contact with CARA-related work. The network will represent a major international extension of CARA’s work in supporting academics under threat in their home countries.