By Henrietta Cook and Daniel Flitton
At the age of 16, Mlisho Karega ran for his life.
He fled the Democratic Republic of Congo's civil war by boat with his nine-year-old brother and then spent three years in a "miserable" refugee camp in Tanzania.
He won't talk about what happened to the rest of his family – "it is too sad," he said.
But in a rundown house in the camp, with a plastic sheet for a roof, he dreamt of becoming a doctor.
After escaping Congo's civil war, Mlisho Agostino Karega has completed a diploma and bachelor of nursing and now works as a registered nurse at Sunshine Hospital. Credit: Mukasa Brothers Production
"Everything changed when I got a chance to come here," the now 26-year-old said.
Mlisho, who was granted a humanitarian visa to come to Australia in 2009, makes up a small but increasing proportion of university graduates and students who are from refugee backgrounds.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton provoked a backlash in May claiming "illiterate and innumerate" refugees would take Australian jobs.
But new University of Melbourne research reveals that the number of students from refugee backgrounds has more than doubled in recent years, swelling from 1687 students in 2009 to 3506 in 2014.
These students face unique challenges.
Many have experienced trauma, forced migration, loss of family and disrupted schooling, according to the Melbourne Refugee Studies Program's report.
Mlisho didn't speak English when he arrived in Australia and moved into a modest Sunshine house with his brother.
He enrolled in an English course at Victoria University, and juggled assignments with being a parent to his brother.
He has since completed a diploma and bachelor of nursing – receiving a distinction average – and now works as a registered nurse at Sunshine Hospital.
Mlisho Agostino Karega. Photo: Mukasa Brothers ProductionCredit: Mukasa Brothers Production
Every morning at 4am Mlisho's light flicks on and he starts poring over medicine and nursing textbooks. He still dreams of becoming a doctor.
"I believe education is everything. I believe if you stop studying, you start dying. If life knocks you down, try to land on your back."
One of the report's authors, Les Terry, said many humanitarian refugees arrived in Australia with high education levels and had successful careers in their former homes.
The report found that while some universities had changed their curriculum and created pathways for refugee students, others needed to become more accommodating.
"When you meet these people, what stands out is that despite having experienced trauma, persecution, and even loss of family, they see education as a way of reclaiming their lives, not just for their own sake, but as a means of making a future contribution to the larger Australian community," Dr Terry said.
The report found a higher proportion of students with a refugee background had taken up studies in health and engineering than the national average.
It also found an increasing number of female students with a refugee background had taken up degrees, with close to equal numbers of male and female students from Myanmar, Iraq and Iran. It also found that refugee students were more likely to be older.
But Dr Terry said the overall number was still small, and many universities needed to do more to encourage students of refugee backgrounds to enrol.
The report raised concerns about the plight of asylum seekers who held temporary humanitarian visas and wanted to study.
"Despite the positive efforts of a number of university administrations to support these students through such initiatives as, for example, short-term humanitarian scholarships, this highly vulnerable group of potential students are not able to advance their education in any formal way at the higher education level, except under the inappropriate and costly 'international student' category," the report said.
Victoria University regularly grapples with this situation.
The university's dean of students Susan Young said visa arrangements created huge obstacles for refugees and asylum seekers wanting to study.
The university is advocating on behalf of a refugee lawyer who wants to enrol in its law degree in order to practise in Australia. "Because of the restrictions on his visa, it is making it really hard for him to study," she said.
She says the university went out of its way to welcome refugees and provided extra academic, welfare, housing and counselling support.
"We have students who have been boy soldiers in Sudan who have tremendous psychological issues. The students are so motivated to have a fresh start and really do well in their studies and make a big impact," she says.