Caught between eviction from their educational institution in the city and a deadly civil war back home, a group of 70 students of South Sudan, who arrived in India to shape their lives far away from conflict, now find themselves forced onto no man’s land.
The students, studying courses such as pharmacy, engineering and business management at a reputed institution in the city, arrived here in 2014 when intermittent peace reigned back home. South Sudan is the world’s youngest country that came into being in 2011 following independence from Sudan. The students arrived on a State-funded scholarship of $ 24,000 per person, most of which has not been paid to the educational institution in the last two years.
The college issued an ultimatum on December 5 stating that the students would be evicted as less than 15 per cent of the total cost due to it was paid by the South Sudan government, and that it cannot continue to bear the cost burden. “Following the ultimatum, the college has only demanded immediate payment of mess charges and has allowed us to attend classes for now. But in a while we would be forced to leave,” said a student who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution from South Sudan government.
Besides strife that has damaged South Sudan’s economy, the students also blame reorganisation of country’s States in 2015 for their plight. The students, originally from the Central Equatorial State which issued the scholarship two years ago, now belong to various other States. The governors of new States cannot agree on which State should foot the scholarship bill.
“We love our country and support the government but we cannot go back home due to the war. Our families are scattered across many countries in refugee camps and some of us do not know what has happened to them,” another student said. The uncertainty has forced students to contemplate asylum here, but they fear persecution of their families back home and threats from the South Sudan government if they decided to take India’s shelter.
“We have explained to our government that without financial support, we would be forced onto the roads and this will lead to loss of life,” a third student told The Hindu . “We sent two representatives to our government to explain our plight but despite repeated promises made by our embassy, there has been no help.”
Penniless, many students have been forced to beg their teachers for daily sustenance and say they had to seek help from local religious institutions to bear hospitalisation costs when some of them took ill.
