By Gyorgy Busztin, Visiting Research Professor, MEI-NUS

 

As the world grapples with Russia’s use of a grain blockade as a weapon of war – while it blames a looming food crisis on Western sanctions – it is a reminder that it is not just food shortages that Middle Eastern countries are facing.

Ukraine is home to a large foreign student population. Some 80,000 foreigners are pursuing degrees in the country, mostly in medicine. While almost half this number are from India, two Middle Eastern countries, Morocco, and Egypt, also have large student contingents in Ukraine: Some 8,500 in the case of the former, and about 3,500 for the latter. Other countries in the region, such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq are also represented. All told, there were well over 12,000 documented students from the Middle East who were hitting the books in Ukraine when Russia invaded[1], but the actual number may be as high as 13,000.[2] An Al Jazeera story quoting the international news website Teller Report put the figure at 18,000.[3]

Many students from the Middle East who staked their futures on obtaining professional qualifications from Ukraine were from lower-middle-class families that could afford to send their children to study abroad, but not in expensive foreign universities. Ukraine’s are modestly priced, and life before the war was relatively cheap. This made it the preferred choice for many in Middle Eastern countries with struggling economies.

But while Morocco, Lebanon and others advised their students to leave Ukraine in early February, as fears of war swept Europe, an unknown number still remain behind. Those who managed to flee will be stranded, nonetheless, and denied an education as their home countries have frequently locked them out of higher educational institutions, as they are frequently regarded as an unexpected and often unwelcome burden.

This has made a bad situation worse, by stoking unrest at home over what is viewed as unfair treatment. The investigative journalist Wagdy Sawahel reported that “the National Association of Mothers and Fathers of Moroccan Students in Ukraine (NAMFMSU) staged a protest on 28 June in front of Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation against its inadequate measures to reintegrate Moroccan students into the country’s higher education system”.[4]

An unnamed Tunisian student who fled Ukraine told the World University Press that “many of my friends who went back to Tunisia regret it…many students and universities don’t want students who have studied at foreign universities to be integrated into the public system”.[5]

Resentment at home against those who could afford to go overseas is part of the reason. One student union spokesman in Tunisia explained it thus: “We refuse concretely the integration of Tunisian students who have returned from Ukraine into the faculty of medicine because that is, in effect, the privatisation of studies.”[6]

While a number of universities the world over – including as far away as Japan – opened their doors to Ukrainian students who were forced to stop their studies because of the war, foreigners have been left out in the cold. For many, including those from the Middle East, this likely marks the end of the road in their quest for higher education. Some of their families face economic ruin. “Families have sold their houses, sold land, everything…so that their son or daughter can get a good education,” a Tunisian PhD candidate said.[7]

But the bad news does not end there. This enforced “brain drain” will have an untold impact on the students’ home countries, bereft as they already are of talent. While it is fair to assume that some who went abroad had no plans to return home once completing their studies, others would have made their way back, and this is a big loss for their countries. This is especially true in the case of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, countries which have already lost a large number of talented individuals to migration because of conflict and economic meltdown.

Take the example of Lebanon or Iraq, where quality higher education is effectively out of reach for many, a result of institutional woes – missing funding, the flight of qualified educators, widespread corruption in state universities – and security constraints.  There, a university degree, particularly one obtained abroad, is worth its weight in gold. Career opportunities abound, and the connections with foreign networks that alumni from higher educational institutions abroad have forged, make them choice hires.

The material damage inflicted by Russia on Ukraine and, by extension, on the world economy, pale in comparison to the massive loss of life, and the displacement of millions. In contrast, the number of foreign students affected is infinitesimally smaller. However, human tragedies cannot be quantified by statistics. Middle Eastern countries are in dire need of talented, well-educated workers, and the impact of this as they try to transform – and, in some cases, to simply kick-start – their economies remains to be seen, but there is no doubt the loss will be keenly felt.

Then there are the students from the Middle East who went to Russia to study. The sanctions imposed on Moscow will inevitably impact on its higher education sector. No scientist or academic worthy of the name will engage with Russian universities or research centres, which by  default, if not design, serve Vladimir Putin’s grandiose ambitions. Conversely, diplomas and scientific degrees from Russia will witness a slump in value as the institutions issuing them become isolated from international science. This will affect the thousands of Middle Eastern students who chose to study at Russian universities. Numbers are hard to come by, but it is indicative that from Egypt alone, there were close to 9,000 students in Russian universities in 2020.[8] Many will now wonder if it is worthwhile to pursue their studies in a country ostracised by the international higher education community.

The fallout from the war in Ukraine has had multiple effects on the Middle East – more insecurity, economic distress, and a looming food crisis, to name just some. Forcing students out of school may not seem like much, but for a region already beset by the flight of intellectuals abroad, the impact will be far-reaching.

 

Image caption: Ajmal Rahmani from Afghanistan and his children are seen as refugees from many different countries – from Africa, Middle East and India – mostly students of Ukrainian universities are seen at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, in eastern Poland on February 27, 2022. Photo by Wojtek Radwanski / AFP

 

About the Author

Dr Gyorgy Busztin is Visiting Research Professor at the Middle East Institute, NUS.

A career diplomat and an academic, he served, between 2001 and 2011, as Hungary’s ambassador to Indonesia and subsequently, Iran. In 2011, Dr Busztin was appointed deputy envoy of the United Nations in Iraq, responsible for the political, analytical, electoral and constitutional support components of the UN’s mission in Iraq. He served at the level of assistant secretary-general until October 2017.

 

End Notes

[1] Amr El Tohamy, Al Fanar Media, 9 March 2022

[2] “Beirut said in late March that around 1,000 students had managed to leave Ukraine, long a destination for Lebanese seeking more affordable universities”. (AFP)

[3]Teller Report, quoting Al Jazeera, 11 March 2022

[4] Wagdy Sawahel, University World News, Africa Edition, 30 June 2022

[5] Elizia Wolkmann, “Students who fled Ukraine battling to continue their studies”, University World News, 2 June 2022

[6] ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Helen Packer, Russia: International Students Suffer  under Sanctions,  Pie News, 8 March 2022