By Kaiser Ho | Project Manager
Dear friends,
For refugee youth in Malaysia, the chance of pursuing higher education is rare, and it is through your support that the HiEd scholars from Fugee HiEd's Scholarship Programme are able to do so. In this update, we’d love for you to meet two of our scholars from two different cohorts: Ammara has earned her law degree and is already guiding a fellow scholar along the path she has just completed. Roshidullah has published his third book, telling the story of the Rohingya people.
These stories reflect the precise values that we wanted to cultivate in our scholars and what your generosity makes possible: refugee youth who thrive in their chosen paths and uplift others alongside them .
Ammara: Stellar in Every Way
This year, Ammara, a scholar from Cohort 2 completed her Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) with the University of London. It is a milestone few refugee youth in Malaysia ever reach, and Ammara sees it as something bigger than herself:
“I see this milestone as more than an academic achievement. I believe that every challenge I face is an opportunity to grow and, hopefully, to become an example for those who come after me, showing them that they, too, can overcome obstacles and find their own path forward.”
Ammara's learning journey didn’t stop there. She also completed the Refugee & Forced Migration Studies (RFMS) Foundations Pilot Course, run by the Refugee-Led Research Hub with Oxford accreditation. She says it sharpened her critical thinking and broadened her understanding of displacement, especially through discussions of durable solutions and refugees’ own perspectives. She hopes to bring this learning, along with her Google Project Management Certificate, to work in human rights, refugee support and community development, ideally by mentoring young people along the way.
That last part is already happening. In July 2026, we launched our Buddy Programme to give scholars guidance and encouragement through shared experience and peer support. Ammara volunteered as a buddy, helping a fellow scholar navigate their academic journey.
Her reason for joining says a lot about who she is:
“I want to be the kind of buddy I once needed: someone who listens, encourages, and reminds you that you are capable of more than you think. Having been a Fugee scholar myself, I hope to walk alongside other scholars, share my journey, and encourage them to keep believing in what they can achieve.”
Today, Ammara works as an English teacher while she looks for a role closer to her law degree. Wherever her path leads, she is already doing what she loves by empowering young people through mentoring and sharing her own story.
Roshidullah: A Voice for the Rohingya
In May 2026, Roshidullah from Cohort 4 published his third book: The Crime of Being Rohingya: Voices of Identity, Genocide and the Failure of Justice.
The book is a collection of poems on the hardship, struggle and hope of the Rohingya, a community from Myanmar stripped of citizenship and land and forced into exile. As Roshidullah puts it:
“This book is not just a story, it is a voice of pain, truth, survival, humanity, and hope. It reflects the untold struggles, tears, discrimination, and heartbreaking realities faced by the Rohingya people. Through this book, readers will discover the meaning of identity, resilience, and the strength of humanity even in the darkest times.”
At a time when the Rohingya community in Malaysia is often targeted and misunderstood, Roshidullah’s work gives it a voice of its own—one of truth, humanity and hope.
He dedicates the book “to every soul who suffered silently, every Rohingya who still dreams of peace, and everyone who believes humanity should stand above hatred, discrimination and injustice.”
Help Us Write the Next Chapter:
Ammara and Roshidullah come from different cohorts and walk very different paths, but it's clear through their stories that a scholarship never stops with one person. It reaches the younger scholars and Budders in the Buddy Circle Ammara now walks alongside, and every reader who meets the Rohingya through Roshidullah’s poems.
Right now, 46 shortlisted refugee youth are waiting to hear in January whether they’ll join our sixth cohort. We’re still raising funds to launch Cohort 6 in early 2027, with the goal of awarding 30 scholarships. Every gift, whether one-off or monthly, helps make that happen, so more young people step into university and begin a story we can’t wait to share with you. Thank you for believing in them, and us!
Warmly, the Fugee HiEd Team
By Kaiser Ho | HiEd Project Manager
By Areej Khan | Fugee Hied Officer
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