Indian medical students start returning to Ukraine

Students told to avoid going to strife-torn eastern regions

Keralite students from Ukraine who were evacuated on account of the strife in the eastern provinces of the country have commenced their return journey. The decision to return comes in the wake of an advisory from the Indian embassy in Kiev last Thursday, issued on the basis of the advice posted by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The Ukraine authorities had advised the students studying in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk that they should move to educational institutions in other regions of the country.

According to students’ representatives here who sought anonymity, a few of them have already moved to Ukraine from the Gulf countries where they were staying with their relatives. A new batch of four persons will move from Kochi on Monday. Another 23 students are expected to board aircraft during August 15-19, they said. The students are expected to land in Ukraine 10 days before the expiry of their existing visas.

The Ukraine authorities have also put in place a procedural formality for the transfer of foreign students. This includes short-listing of educational institutions which could accommodate the new students and also on the technical formalities to be followed.

However, the students and their parents are confused over the grey areas in the transfer procedures. According to one of them, they are not yet clear about the additional amount they will have shell out for air fare.

Lack of clarity also exists in the new fee structure and also the transfer fee one has to bear.

Third year medical students have their own problems. Most of them had to return before completing their examinations, which, for many, included the repeat examinations for the first year papers in which they could not pass. They are not sure whether they would get admission to next year, said one of the parents.

Their return was under threat with the increase in the intensity of violence after the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH 17 on July 17.

While the Ukraine authorities have arranged for the return of the students, the advisory has made it clear that they should not return to their previous place of study in the eastern regions to receive their educational certificates, arrange for their transfer certificates of take back their belongings left there, until the situation stabilises.