African students confined to France: "It's exhausting to be hungry and have to study"

"I have a good breakfast in the morning and I don't eat anything until the evening. My partials have been canceled, but we have to write homework. It's exhausting to be hungry and to have to concentrate for university. "

Syra, 25, has lived alone in France for four years. To her parents who remained in Senegal, she carefully avoids telling what she is going through so as not to worry them. The political science student at Paris 8 University lost her job in a communications agency following confinement.

"Currently, I have no more money, so I had to educate myself about food," she said. The young student cannot claim a social grant from the National Education. This aid is reserved for students whose parents have resided on French soil for more than two years.

>> Read also: "Coronavirus: the interrogations of a Senegalese student confined to Wuhan"

Aid allocated but delay too long

Two days ago, on the advice of a professor, Syra nevertheless decided to contact several social workers to request emergency assistance from the Regional Center for University and School Works (Crous), to which she is entitled . The young woman awaits an answer.

To support students financially, the Ministry of Higher Education released, at the end of March, 10 million euros dedicated to "specific emergency aid" allocated by Crous through simplified procedures [toll free number to request these aid: 0 806 000 278].

But if the necessary credits are allocated, the processing of files remains too long, regret several student associations.

Solidarity between students

Faced with the emergency, some did not wait. This is the case of Khadim Dieye, the president of the Senegalese Students' Circle of Valenciennes, which has a hundred sympathizers. The second-year DUT student at the Hauts-de-France Polytechnic University launched into the delivery of foodstuffs for his most precarious comrades, with the members of his association. "Meat, sugar, milk, oil, pasta and rice to help out," he lists.

Khadim Dieye considers himself happy because there are four Senegalese in his residence. Together, they manage to share meals to give themselves courage and reduce costs. "We always used to get together between students, beyond sociability, it saves a little. This is what is missing today for many foreign students," he explains. he.

Other associations, such as the Association of Senegalese Students of France (AESF), have launched fundraisers. Meanwhile, its president, Mame Soce Beye, has already drawn from its own reserves to lend money to the most vulnerable.

Notice in full containment

One of the main items of expenditure for those who do not live with their parents remains the rent. For her 12 m2 social housing, Oumy Dione, a Senegalese student in an engineering school in Marseille, has just received a letter of formal notice from her private landlord. She was unable to pay the 520 euros due for the month of March.

"I am trying to negotiate ... Yesterday, I managed to send 200 euros to the owner, thanks to 'help for students in difficulty' paid by the Senegalese state." Oumy also intends to file a file with a social worker from Crous to claim emergency aid.

Since the confinement was announced on March 17, the 24-year-old woman has been confined to her tiny room. "The French students of my residence have almost all returned to their parents, only the foreigners have stayed. There are only me, Guineans, Malians, Moroccans and Algerians", says Oumy Dione. "We are doing with it, because health is paramount, but it is psychologically hard. I was used to spending time outside and in the university library. I didn't come home until 10 pm to go to bed," she continues.

"We are locked in small accommodation, we are far from our families. Many had planned to go to see their parents this summer, but it will not be possible. It plays on morale," said Mame Soce Beye, the President of the ESAF.

Knowing their parents far away, not being able to watch over them is also a source of concern for these young people. "I'm more afraid for my family in Senegal than for me here, says Oumy Dione. I spend my time online, monitoring the situation there day by day. The cases are increasing and I'm worried because they do not have sufficient infrastructure to face this situation in the country. "

Syra calls her parents several times a day. "They are 68 and 57 years old, they live in Senegal and it stresses me out," she breathes on the phone.

Pending residence permits

For Sonia *, an Algerian student in strategic management, the confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic generates another anxiety: the shutdown of administrative services postpones the allocation of her residence permit.

"It was agreed that my school and I jointly submitted my residence permit application to the prefecture a month ago, which we were unable to do," she worries. "In my class alone, we are six Algerian students in this case."

"We have received numerous phone calls from isolated students, worried about their administrative situation in France," said the Addra association. Founded by Algerian students, this collective distributes food parcels and has set up a psychological listening cell, which Sonia has used.

The French government, which announced in mid-March the three-month extension of all long-stay visas and residence permits in France, has just extended the validity of these documents by an additional quarter.

Sonia's visa was therefore automatically extended by six months, but this did not give her the right to work or to travel. "I feel like I'm stuck," she says.

Sonia had planned to start a double course in Canada at the start of the school year. His journey and his study projects now seem compromised.

* The first name has been changed.

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