Four and a half months after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the French government announced a moratorium on the expulsion of foreign students who had fled the war. A measure that will only apply until the next academic year.
Officially, 3,500 third-country nationals benefit from the temporary protection of France. Among them, the associations estimate the number of foreign students at less than a thousand. Students that Paris was reluctant to welcome, believing that, except in danger to their lives, these young men and women could return to their country.
Pierre Henry, president of the association France Fraternitiesdenounces a measure as absurd as it is discriminatory: “ These are people who are trained in extremely diverse sectors such as medicine, pharmacy, IT. And these are profiles that we need. I should point out that most of them are French-speaking. And then the other element is that of justice. When one flees from war, the bombs do not look at the origin which is yours. »
The moratorium was adopted on June 17 and was the subject of a ” interministerial decision “Explains the executive, confirming words in everyday life The world of the prefect Joseph Zimet which leads the interministerial crisis unit on the reception of Ukrainians. “ It was decided (…) that no obligation to leave the territory (OQTF) would be applied, nor any new OQTF decided until the start of the academic year “, did he declare. The government is therefore backtracking, but will examine the situations on a case-by-case basis, each young person will have to present a student project and be able to justify sufficient resources.
France Fraternités will remain attentive. ” For the moment, they are without net. They don’t have access to anything. They cannot work. They have difficulties enrolling in universities. We must speed things up and give them access to student status »valued Pierre-Henry. The government estimates that less than 200 people the number of students who will be affected, a figure that the association considers premature.
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