The war threw them on the road of exodus and they arrived in France which they consider a country of refuge. But hundreds of young Africans, who were studying in Ukraine, do not know if they will be able to continue their studies in France. “I said to myself either I flee, or I leave my skin there”, says Rostambert Bangou Tcheubue, a 20-year-old Cameroonian who studied web development in Mariupol. “Strength” on several occasions getting off trains to “give way to the Ukrainians”, he eventually managed to reach Poland. With fear in my stomach “to be shot by the Russians”.
In 2020, Ukraine had some 61,000 foreign students, including 17,379 Africans (latest figures available from Unesco). They chose Ukraine because “inexpensive studies, cheaper living and ease of obtaining visas”, summarizes Stephane Ngwen, 32, a Cameroonian who arrived in France at the beginning of March, via Hungary. He had been studying in Ivano-Frankivsk (western Ukraine) for five years. How many have arrived in France in recent weeks? A few hundred, according to associations mobilized to help these students, the majority of whom are French-speaking, which is why they have favored France over neighboring countries.
“I’m tired of learning other languages and I already speak French”, explains Sokou Abalé, in his twenties, originally from the African continent (he did not want to specify the country). He says he has “walked more than 80 km, without water or food” and waited four days at the Polish border. From now on, it is in France that he hopes to pursue his master’s degree in international relations. Sometimes engaged in very specific courses, these young people are also worried about the impossibility of continuing their studies in their country of origin. Thus, Stephane Ngwen was in a sector “Oil and Gas Production”. Which does not exist in Cameroon. “There are no universities for these studies”, notes the young man who also cites the “reassuring presence” of a Cameroonian diaspora in France.
African students do not fall within the framework of the unprecedented system set up in France for people who have fled Ukraine, which allows them to stay legally in France and to benefit from social benefits (accommodation, allowances, schooling, access to employment and care). Only Ukrainian nationals who resided in Ukraine before February 24 (date of the start of the conflict), “third country nationals” who were living under refugee (or equivalent) status on that date in Ukraine and those who “regularly resided” with a residence permit and who “are unable to return to their country or region of origin in safe and sustainable conditions”. African students are excluded from these categories since they can, theoretically, return to their country of origin.
Currently, the African students that AFP has met are accommodated in reception centers but above all with individuals approached by the association Maison des Camerounais de France. A solidarity “variable geometry”to the detriment of people “for many from the Maghreb and West Africa”, abound the CFDT and the association France land of asylum in a forum in Liberation. Moved by the “viral videos showing acts of racism and xenophobia suffered by these young people at the borders”, Abdelaziz Moundé, president of the Maison des Camerounais de France, has set up an emergency reception and material support system for these students. He sees in their exclusion from temporary protection “discrimination between people who fled the war at the same time”.
Contacted about the fate of these students, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to AFP’s requests.