When he fled the port city of Odessa a few days after the start of the war in Ukraine on February 27, Merdi had no idea that his journey would become an obstacle course to stay in France, where he arrived on February 11. March.

"We thought that France was going to welcome us, but that's not it. We are told that we don't have nationality, that we were in Ukraine only to study and that now we have to come home," said the 26-year-old Congolese student.

The case of Merdi is not isolated: it is estimated today at just under 1,000 the number of foreign students who have fled Ukraine who encounter the same difficulties to stay on French territory, according to a count of associations. of the Union of Exiled Students and France Fraternities.

The crux of the current problem, of an administrative nature, dates back to the beginning of March when most of the countries of the European Union agreed to "rapidly help" people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

It was decided to apply the temporary protection directive – valid for three months in France – granting several rights to exiled people: a right of residence, access to the labor market, housing, education or social and medical aid.

But foreign students residing in Ukraine have been excluded from this emergency system.

Several voices, including Pierre Henry, the president of France Fraternités, then warned at the end of March, in a column for the newspaper La Croix, that "the sorting out of refugees from Ukraine would fuel an accusation of discriminatory treatment".

To France 24, he explains that "France excluded foreign students from temporary protection by giving them a one-month residence permit and considering that after all, their country of origin was not at war, they could go back."

>> To read on France24.com, our report: Exodus at the Ukraine-Poland border: "They are turning us back just because we are black!"

This is the case of Sabar.

This Algerian student fled Lviv (city in western Ukraine a few dozen kilometers from the Polish border) when the war started at the end of February.

"The prefecture only gave me a one-month residence permit, and now they want me to go back to Algeria. But I don't want to, I spent a lot of money to be able to go to Ukraine, study and have my diploma", testifies the young man of 25 years.

"The Kafkaesque option rather than that of protection for all"

Once in Paris, on March 14, Sabar had a hard time for two days - "I slept outside near a train station" - before finding a hotel that was hosting refugees.

In a precarious administrative situation, he simply wanted to continue his studies – brutally interrupted by the war in Ukraine – in France.

“I tried to enroll in several universities: in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux… But they did not answer me”, he continues.

“I am going to be told that if I want a six-month receipt [un récépissé de demande de titre de séjour, NDLR] in order to be able to stay, I will have to be enrolled in a university or have a promise of employment. It's not, I haven't found anything in a month, and that's my problem now. But I don't want to leave."

Same situation for Merdi, who is worried about his current situation: "I am afraid that I will be told to return to Congo. If I have the opportunity, I would like to continue my studies at a university here. The only thing I want is this."

The special status of African students who have fled Ukraine mobilizes several actors in France.

Among them, a group of university presidents and lecturers were alarmed at their fate, in a column in the newspaper Le Monde published in early April, calling for "continuing to train the students that Ukraine has chosen to welcome ."

Far-left student political organizations, such as Le Poing Levé, are also trying to increase pressure on university presidencies to agree to enroll these foreign students caught in the middle.

"It's an absurd situation, we have chosen the Kafkaesque option rather than that of protection for all: we are heading towards situations with students who do not intend to return home, who will find themselves in irregular situation on French territory and in precariousness", explains Pierre Henry.

"It's a real mess, because these students are French-speaking, half of their training has already been completed and the best thing would be - logically, because their professional project was completely destroyed by the war - to allow them to enroll in France and continue their studies."

Universities are beginning, however, to change their position and accept to enroll foreign students.

“Twenty are in the pre-reception phase, are taking registrations”, explained to Echos Start on April 19 Mathieu Schneider, president of the Migrants network in higher education.

"Everyone is a victim of this war"

The administrative status of students in this situation is not however settled, and the case by case is favored by the prefectures, and the decisions seem to vary from one department to another: several other people contacted - including a Congolese student residing in Aveyron – declare having received a temporary residence permit for several months, and not just one as it seemed to be the rule.

Which general rule ultimately prevails?

Joined by France 24, the Ministry of the Interior details the arrangements available for people eligible for temporary protection, in particular through the public body Campus France, which allows eligible people to apply for registration in the French higher education.

Regarding the situation of foreign students currently in difficulty in France, Place Beauvau replies that "the treatment of third-country nationals is only the application of the decision of the Council of the EU activating the mechanism [of temporary protection]. If a national of third country is not eligible for temporary protection, he is destined to return to his country of origin."

However, other countries have chosen to adapt the framework given by the EU and to welcome all people fleeing Ukraine, without distinction, such as Portugal and Spain.

A vision with variable geometry depending on the Member States of the EU, of which the Council of Europe was moreover alarmed, in a report published at the beginning of April, evoking a "double standard" welcome vis-à-vis of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants depending on their country of origin.

International students therefore have few options available: either go to those countries which have decided to universally welcome all people fleeing Ukraine, or return to their country of origin, or apply for a asylum or residence permit for another reason (to have a student, employee or private and family life permit) – provided you meet the required conditions.

Sabar and Merdi have an appointment in the prefecture in the coming days to be fixed on their future.

The young Algerian man "wants to continue his studies and stay in France, it's the best thing that can happen to us", he hopes.

The Congolese student, he still does not understand why he is treated differently from another refugee: "Nobody wanted to leave Ukraine to come to France. It's not our fault, it's the war that caused all these problems. Everyone is a victim of this war: the Ukrainians are their country, but we also lived there, we also paid for university. We have the right to be treated like them today there should be no difference."

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