(Ottawa) One hundred and seventy-six scholarships for as many victims. Ottawa is setting up a program to honor the people who lost their lives in the crash of Flight PS752, shot down by Iranian surface-to-air missiles in January 2020.
Each of the 176 scholarships created by the Canadian government will bear the name of a victim of the Ukraine International Airways plane crash. Students with family ties to the victims will be given priority for a scholarship with an average value of $25,000.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Mélanie Joly, recalled that this tragedy had claimed the lives of a large number of academics and students who maintained “close ties with Canadian educational establishments”, and who made a “significant contribution to Canada.”
Among the 176 victims of the crash that occurred during takeoff from Tehran airport at 6:18 a.m. local time on January 8, 2020 are 55 citizens and 30 permanent residents of Canada, including several students and researchers who were attending the universities of Carleton and Ottawa.
The scholarship will be open to students from abroad and Canada attending a college or university in Canada, if “their field of study corresponds to the academic or professional background of the victims or if it is focused on the prevention of aviation disasters », According to the government press release.
“This scholarship program honors their memory by providing educational opportunities to people who can pursue studies in their name,” said Minister Joly in the same statement.
A case still ongoing
The matter itself is still far from settled. A group of four countries whose nationals were killed in the attack – Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Ukraine – have taken the Islamic Republic to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands .
And if the quartet was finally able to meet representatives of Tehran, the meeting did not bear fruit. “Based on the discussions that took place this week, the Group considers that our respective positions are too far apart to be reconciled through negotiations,” it was declared last Monday.
“As long as Iran refuses to assume full legal responsibility, the Coordination Group will continue to take steps to resolve this dispute in accordance with international law, including before the International Court of Justice,” added the grouping of four countries .
“The families of the victims of Flight PS752 have the right to transparency, justice and accountability for the tragic loss of their loved ones and for the suffering they continue to endure, and the Coordination Group remains committed to this path,” we assured.