‘We are left in limbo’
Struggles not over for J’cans students who fled Ukraine despite donations pumped into Consolidated Fund
Published:Thursday | March 31, 2022 | 12:09 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
The Jamaican students who were trapped in Ukraine when Russia invaded the European country several weeks ago are questioning the rationale for the Government placing funds raised by the People’s National Party (PNP) and the prime minister’s Positive Jamaica Foundation into its housekeeping account.
PNP President Mark Golding had announced in February that the party had raised US$10,000 to assist the students. Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ foundation also reportedly raised US$11,500 to assist them.
The funds were turned over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, which initially placed the money in a holding account.
However, Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith, permanent secretary in the foreign affairs ministry, said the Ministry of Finance had instructed them to turn over the money to the Consolidated Fund.
She was unable to recall the exact sums the ministry had received from the PNP and Positive Jamaica Foundation.
The ministry had utilised its own funds to cover expenses to assist the students in returning to the island, Sealy Monteith added.
Tarek Simpson, one of the students who was displaced during the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, questioned why the money raised has been placed in the Consolidated Fund.
“We thought that the funds would have been available to [further] assist us, but, at a meeting last week, we were told that the funds have been placed in the Consolidated Fund and there is no access to it,” he told The Gleaner, pointing out that the 20 students had left virtually everything behind as they fled the war-torn country, and were given clothes when they arrived in neighbouring Poland.
Simpson said that the students currently meet regularly to mull over the next possible steps to continue their tertiary studies.
“We are left in limbo, but we are working as a group and we share information as we come across it to see how we move forward,” said the final-year medical student.
The University of the West Indies is not currently seen as a viable option, with a prohibitive US$28,000 annual tuition fee – the amount they forked out for the six years of study in Ukraine.
They are also being asked to provide transcripts, which is not feasible at this time with no access to their previous institutions, about which they are also uncertain whether they remain standing.
“We have been told that the Ministry [of Education] has been in touch with schools in the US but we are still waiting to hear what is happening,” Simpson said, adding that they are determined to complete their education but now feel abandoned.
Meanwhile, the Jamaican diaspora in the northeastern region of the United States is moving ahead with plans to establish the Jamaica Rapid Response Fund, which is expected to be launched in May.