The latest and bloodiest phase of Russian aggression against Ukraine has rocked the world. The terrible interstate war on our continent, now in its third month, has displaced more than 11 million Ukrainians. Less than 50,000 of them have come to the Netherlands – mostly women and children.
Among the Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands there is a substantial group of students who had to interrupt their studies in Ukraine. Some of them try to take distance lectures as long as their university continues to offer education online. Although precise figures are not available, all young people in this group face the same challenges.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, they have lost all their securities. While the lives of their loved ones are uncertain, and their town or village is sometimes occupied or under attack, they have had to leave everything behind to bring themselves to safety. Their future is uncertain and they can’t go back.
Under these circumstances, it is impossible for these students to think about anything other than what is happening in Ukraine right now.
pick up study
Nevertheless, most Ukrainian students who are now in the Netherlands would prefer to continue their studies here. To do something constructive, to look ahead and to work on the future – their own future and that of their country.
From the beginning of the war, Dutch universities have expressed their solidarity with students and academics from Ukraine. Students, teachers and the wider academic community are selflessly and enthusiastically committed to providing assistance to refugee students and scientists. On a small scale and often on their own initiative, they offer students the opportunity to join education. Dutch, Ukrainian and Russian students and teachers – including the signatories of this open letter – are working closely together on this.
Despite big words and endless press releases about solidarity with Ukraine, in reality the help that refugee Ukrainian students receive from Dutch universities and the government is virtually nil.
Bad information
Although the universities have taken some limited measures – such as setting up an emergency fund for Ukrainian students who were already studying in the Netherlands when the war started – in our country, unlike in other European countries, very little is happening for Ukrainian students. who fled to the Netherlands after the start of the war. It usually does not contain more than a referral to the regular programs for which they are allowed to register.
That means: poor and contradictory information about which courses are available and how you can apply for them as a refugee, deadlines for applications that have expired and no recognition of the courses you have already taken in Ukraine (are you a third year? , start again). Some students are even wrongly told that they should first apply for a student visa in Ukraine.
If, as a refugee Ukrainian student, you have overcome all these obstacles, and you have still been able to register for the coming academic year, then only the question of tuition fees for students from non-EU countries remains. For one year of a three-year bachelor’s degree this amounts to about 12,000 euros, for some master’s programs almost 30,000 euros. Students from Ukraine cannot afford these amounts in normal times, let alone now that their country is being flattened, families and communities have been torn apart, the economy is at a standstill and scholarships are nowhere to be found.
Financial opportunity
The Dutch universities – whose funding has been under enormous pressure for years – apparently cannot afford ‘concessions’ and refer to the cabinet. For example, the organizations Universities of the Netherlands and the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, together with the Foundation for Refugee Students, gave the cabinet ‘urgent advice’ on 19 April to make it financially possible for (prospective) students from Ukraine to continue their studies in the Netherlands.
In concrete terms, they are asking the cabinet to apply the ‘statutory’ tuition fee rate instead of that for ‘third countries’ and to also make refugees from Ukraine eligible for student grants.
After more than two months of war, it is high time the government actually took this step. At the very least, Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands should have access to scholarships or student grants and be exempt from tuition fees. Their (study) travel costs should also be reimbursed and they should be given an intensive Dutch course.
The visa requirement for students should be lifted as part of the temporary protection status. Finally, the courses they have already passed in Ukraine should be taken into account and the provision of information should be better regulated.
Contributing to the further education of refugee Ukrainian students is positive for everyone involved: it offers perspective to young people who have had to leave everything behind, contributes to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and gives universities the opportunity to do what they do best . This is the least our society can and should do for refugee Ukrainian students. So in plain Dutch: no words but deeds.
Freddie Aldershoff is a student of Slavic Languages & Cultures and European History, UvA.
Beau Boogaard graduated in forensic linguistics and student at the interfaculty teacher training program English, UvA.
Svitlana Buriaklecturer FdR, UvA.
Vincent de Graafguest lecturer FdR, UvA.
Arina Kolesnikthird-year international law student, fled from Kharkiv.
Maksym Pasuchenkosecond-year math student, fled from Kyiv.
Eliza ShyhapovaMaster’s student of international law, fled from Kharkiv.
Sergey Vasilievlecturer FdR, UvA.