The Moroccan woman is afraid of the “unknown” fate that her eldest son chose, after he decided to go to Germany, instead of returning to his homeland on private flights operated by Morocco to evacuate his nationals.
Ukrainian universities announced the suspension of studies until calm returns, which has clouded the future of 8000 Moroccan students who make up the second largest student community in Ukraine.
The latest figures issued on Wednesday evening by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that more than 5,300 Moroccans left Ukraine through border posts, from which they crossed to Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Hungary.
In the four countries, teams from Moroccan embassies are on the ground in order to receive students and facilitate their return to Morocco. But some of them preferred to search for another path, and the student Saad is one of them.
From medical student to asylum seeker
As soon as he obtained a baccalaureate degree with a degree that did not qualify him to enter the medical school in Morocco, this young Moroccan went, in 2020, to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to fulfill his dream of studying dentistry, before the Russian invasion forced him, along with thousands of his colleagues, to leave.
After he caught his breath, after a “long and arduous” trip that led him to Poland, Saad decided to leave Warsaw for Berlin, taking advantage of the current situation that grants him the right to move in Europe despite not having a visa to enter the “Schengen” area.
From a garden near the train station in Warsaw, where he gathered with a number of Moroccan students of other Arab and African nationalities, the Moroccan student confirmed to Sky News Arabia that he understood from those present in one of the transit camps in Poland that all those fleeing the Ukrainian war would enjoy the right of residence in other countries European Union for a term of up to three years.
Saad added, “I am also one of those fleeing the war, and I will try to ask for help upon my arrival in Germany, in order to complete my studies there or obtain asylum.”
The young man almost completely excludes the possibility of returning to his university in Ukraine. He justifies his decision by what he described as the hell he suffered on his way from the city of Lviv towards the Polish border, where he was a “victim of racism” like many Arab and African students.
When asked about returning to Morocco, the dental student confirmed that it depends on the extent of his treatment in Germany.
negative move
At a time when student Saad dreams of a new life in Berlin, Mariam, a general medicine student, preferred to spend some days in Slovakia, which she arrived from Odessa.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, the young student confirms that she was very impressed with the capital, Bratislava, and decided to spend a tourist vacation there, to forget the “shock of the war” before deciding about her future.
Maryam revealed that she did not buy the return ticket, which is provided by Moroccan Airlines at exceptional prices, because she did not specify, after the period of her stay in Slovakia.
For his part, Elias Benfadil, Director of the Office of Moroccan Students in Ukraine, confirmed that there are indeed a large number of Moroccan students who intend to stay in a number of European Union countries, even if this is illegal.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, the student official, who is working to help many students to leave Ukraine, confirms that he, along with his colleagues in the office, is trying to educate students about the negative impact of the step they intend to take.
On the other hand, Benfadil asserts that the bulk of the students; Especially those who have been studying in medical and engineering universities in recent years, intend to return to Morocco and wait until things calm down in Ukraine, while some are trying to find a way to transfer their academic files from Ukrainian universities to universities in other countries, including Morocco.
daydreams
The European Union has relaxed asylum rules, saying that its 27 countries will welcome those fleeing the Russian invasion. Are Moroccan and foreign students concerned with this decision?
In answering this question, Ismail Azzam, a journalist based in Berlin, rules out that Moroccan students coming from Ukraine will benefit from the right to asylum in Germany, and justifies his position by emphasizing that the conditions for granting asylum, as determined by the High Commissioner for Refugees, do not apply to Moroccan students.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, Azzam also ruled out the possibility of opening German universities to these students for a number of reasons, the most important of which is the language barrier, as German is the dominant language in almost all universities.
On the other hand, the Moroccan journalist says that German public opinion is no longer enthusiastic about accepting refugees, especially from the Middle East, as was the case in 2015, when Germany, led by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, opened the country to refugees from the Middle East, especially from Syria.
Merkel was widely criticized after the problems of integration emerged, and the failure of the scheme, which was based on Germany’s benefit from immigrants.
Ismail Azzam concludes by saying that this time the situation is different, as the Europeans believe that the reception of those fleeing the war will be temporary because everyone will return to the Ukrainian homes, after the end of the Russian invasion.