On Thursday morning, Russia launched a comprehensive military attack on Ukraine, and within a few hours the situation witnessed casualties among Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, government buildings were targeted, and the sounds of missiles were heard in the capital, Kiev.
Arab students
Since the beginning of the Russian threats, the stranded Arab students have been faced with one option and several problems, starting with venturing with their certificates in the event they leave the country, and going through long procedures to finish their papers before leaving, and paying at least 1,600 euros to reach any Arab country, and then traveling from it to their country, but they were not lucky. And they are now facing a direct threat, and they hear the sounds of missiles from their homes, and they are appealing to their governments to evacuate them, so that hundreds of Arabs tweet with them, demanding that they extend a helping hand to their brothers.
The number of foreign students in Ukraine is increasing due to low education costs, facilitating the admission process, high employment rates, low living expenses, and an ideal opportunity for Arab students in particular, because they do not need any language tests, and the years of studying medicine are limited to only 5 years, while adhering to the highest standards of educational quality .
There are 8,233 Moroccan students in Ukraine, according to the statistics of 2021, and they occupy the second place in the ranking of foreign nationals coming to the country to study after the Indians, and Algerians occupy the fourth place as the largest student community, according to the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Education.
More than 12 Arab countries called on their citizens to leave, including Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, two weeks before the start of the attack, and so far there have been no estimates of the number of Arabs stuck there, and those who faced crises before traveling.
Exploiting the crisis
Salma Karam, a Moroccan student, posted a video on social media, calling on her country's authorities to evacuate them, protect their threatened lives, provide affordable airline tickets, and prevent airlines from exploiting the crisis.
#Ukraine #Morocco #Moroccan_students_in_Ukraine #Russia_Ukraine #Morocco_ukraine #Save the Moroccans of Ukraine 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/JFINsd8iiu
— hiba~🇲🇦 (@hibaexo93760755) February 24, 2022
Amid the smoke-filled scene of the missiles, Salma responds to those who blame the Arab students who have not left since the beginning of the Russian threats, explaining it with the abundance of administrative procedures, and the huge rise in the prices of airline tickets, which would not have been available with expatriate students.
My cousin is stuck in #Ukraine and the sounds of bombing are close to them.
While the rest of the peoples rushed to save their communities, the Moroccan community is waiting for extermination!!
#Save the Moroccans of Ukraine #RussianUkrainian War
— Nour Nasr (@NOurnasr05) February 24, 2022
All countries have issued decisions regarding their communities in Ukraine except for Morocco. The only measure he took was to reduce the price of tickets, and therefore any Moroccan who comes from Ukraine must bear his responsibility.
Moroccans are the only community stuck in Ukraine now!!
#Russian_Ukrainian_War #Save the Moroccans of Ukraine
— Nour Nasr (@NOurnasr05) February 24, 2022
Jordanian support
On February 13, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Jordan announced that it was following up on the conditions of its students studying in Ukrainian universities. The Jordan Times newspaper published statements by the ministry's spokesperson, in which he indicated that there are about 700 Jordanian students studying there, most of them in Kiev universities.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry had previously published instructions for students not to travel to Ukraine, and those who are there that they should leave immediately, and also called on all its nationals in this country to provide their contact details at this link https://mfa.gov.jo/news /4412, to contact them, or contact the Cultural Office in Kiev at: 00380939361181, or the Operations Center at the Ministry’s headquarters in emergency cases at: 00962795497777.
Later today, after the start of the attack on Ukraine, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs published, on Twitter, several notices to all those who wish to communicate with them from the nationals, and decided to exempt those wishing to return from all travel restrictions related to the Corona pandemic, but the Jordanians demanded the provision of airline tickets At an acceptable price, and sending Jordanian planes.
Important disclaimer for Jordanians in #Ukraine:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs states that hot contact numbers are:
⬅️ Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in
#Ankara (00905384419586)
⬅️ Jordanian Cultural Office in the capital #Kiev (00380939361181)
⬅️ Ministry Operations Center Unit
(00962795497777)
— Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs (@ForeignMinistry) February 24, 2022
It was decided to exempt all Jordanian citizens residing in Ukraine and wishing to return to the Kingdom from all travel restrictions related to the Corona pandemic, by not registering on the designated platform, and not to require a PCR examination within the 72 hours preceding travel and a PCR examination upon arrival in the Kingdom, from today until further notice pic .twitter.com/UU6uIXsWII
— National Center for Security and Crisis Management (NCSCM) (@NCSCMJordan) February 24, 2022
Egypt demands calm
On February 16, the official account of the Egyptian Embassy in Kiev published on Facebook, the results of its communication with Ukrainian universities, to learn about their positions regarding the application of the distance study system, and only 7 universities responded with approval, despite the availability of information on the website of the Ukrainian embassy in Egypt. With 240 universities.
In light of the start of the attack on Ukraine this morning, and the closure of the airspace, the Egyptian embassy called on its citizens not to leave the homes, and to keep identity documents, until the situation stabilizes, knowing that the embassy can be contacted through the following numbers: +380932165877/+380732009984/+3806344779436, But the statement aroused the distress of the Egyptians seeking help from their brothers and their authorities.
#Egypt_students_in_Ukraine
We are Egyptian students in Ukraine, the airports have been closed, and no one from the embassy is talking about us. Please, raise our voice to the officials.
— Basmala khalil (@cocobas9) February 24, 2022
#Egypt_students_in_Ukraine are now in Ukraine without their families, and their universities refuse to study online.
Your sons, Mr. President, are waiting for your directions to help them return to our beloved Egypt @AlsisiOfficial
— Mahmoud Fekry 📌 (@mahmoudfekry74) February 23, 2022
Egyptian students in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/86os6QGVkb
— Se7s Of Humor™ (@DoctorStraE7S) February 24, 2022
#Egypt_students_in_Ukraine are now in Ukraine without their families, and their universities refuse to study online.
Your sons, Mr. President, are waiting for your directions to help them return to our beloved Egypt @AlsisiOfficial
— Mahmoud Fekry 📌 (@mahmoudfekry74) February 23, 2022
To whom
The page of the Yemeni community in Ukraine has not published any instructions to its followers since the start of the Russian threats, and according to media outlets, Yemen called on its citizens to leave on February 13.
Yemeni students studying in Ukraine are asking the government to evict them, and the government says the skies are closed, and they have the plane with its flyer in Cairo
— Omar Khaled Al-Amir (@aEiDNYo6poMQUhu) February 24, 2022
Sudan
There are several Sudanese consulates, in Kiev and other cities, but there have been no official Sudanese comments about any plan to conduct their nationals.
It is noteworthy that the two countries agreed in 2018 to facilitate admission processes for Sudanese seeking to study in Ukraine.
May God be with the Sudanese students who are in Ukraine 🥲# Million February 24
— Omer Alniel® (@OmerAlniel) February 24, 2022