Study of 130 Palestinian students in Bangladesh uncertain as visa approval suddenly revoked

About a year and a half ago, the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chattogram offered scholarships to around 200 female students from the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip.

In October last year, Bangladesh’s home ministry granted VISA-on-arrival permission to 189 of the students on the university’s list.

The students were scheduled to travel from Gaza to Chattogram via Jordan in the middle of this year.

However, in June, Chattogram police authorities suddenly informed AUW that the decision to grant VISA-on-arrival to the Palestinian students had been cancelled.

This has created uncertainty over the studies of the Palestinian students who received AUW scholarships.

According to diplomatic sources, some 30 students were either killed in Israeli attacks or moved elsewhere.

In this situation, new students were added in place of those 30 students.

In the end, the Asian University for Women authorities applied for VISAs for 171 Palestinian students. Sources say that at least 130 of them are waiting for admission to the university.

The Asian University for Women is located in Chattogram and is internationally recognised. The Bangladesh government had been facilitating the education of the Palestinian students at the request of the university authorities.

However, last June, the Chattogram police administration contacted the university authorities and informally conveyed the decision that on-arrival VISAs of Palestinian students had been cancelled at the instructions of senior officials at the home ministry.

The Asian University for Women was not informed whether there was any written directive from the home ministry in this regard.

Diplomatic sources said that since the interim government granted permission last October for meritorious Palestinian students to come to Bangladesh, a certain quarter has been creating obstacles to the process.

This quarter communicated with various levels of the government, questioning the rationale for the Palestinian students studying at the Asian University for Women.

They argued that the Palestinian students could enroll in different private universities in Bangladesh. Using this logic, the quarter indirectly requested the government, at an informal level, to halt the arrival of the Palestinian students at the Asian University for Women.

Multiple diplomatic sources have indicated that the Palestinian embassy in Dhaka is behind the move to stop Palestinian students from studying at the Asian University for Women.

Since the announcement of scholarships for Palestinian students at the Asian University for Women, the UAE has extended help. Besides providing all necessary support to bring the students, it has also requested the Bangladesh government to resolve the issue.

Diplomatic sources said that in the last week of July, the UAE embassy in Dhaka sent a letter to the foreign ministry.

The letter stated that Palestinian students would be brought from Amman, the capital of Jordan, to Bangladesh on a special Emirates Airlines flight.

They would be transported from Gaza to Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan by the UN agency UNICEF, and the UAE would coordinate their road transport.

Therefore, the Bangladesh embassy in Amman should obtain permission from the UAE foreign ministry regarding the students’ road transport from Gaza to Jordan.

A diplomatic source said that the UAE was surprised by the decision to cancel the Palestinian students’ VISA on arrival facility without any reason after permission had been granted.

Speaking to several senior government officials, it has been learned that although the Palestinian students’ VISA on arrival facility was cancelled, the United Arab Emirates has continued preparations to bring them to Bangladesh.

At the same time, the Asian University for Women authorities are communicating with the government to resolve the issue.

However, the group creating obstacles for the Palestinian students’ studies at the university has also not stopped. They have been applying informal pressure at various levels of the government.

According to diplomatic sources, in the last week of July, the Palestinian embassy in Dhaka contacted the foreign ministry regarding the situation created around the Palestinian students’ studies.

At that time, the embassy formally informed the ministry in writing that the Palestinian authorities are grateful to Bangladesh for awarding scholarships to meritorious Palestinian students from Gaza.

However, the embassy does not want the Palestinian students to study at the Asian University for Women.

The embassy believes that the Palestinian students have opportunities to study at several private universities in Bangladesh.

When asked, speaking to Prothom Alo, Yusuf Ramadan, the Palestinian ambassador in Dhaka on Tuesday said, "The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Bangladesh welcomes all scholarship opportunities from public and private universities across Bangladesh for our students in Palestine, particularly for those in Gaza. We have already received more than 200 scholarships from various Bangladeshi universities, under which we are going to bring our students from Gaza with the full cooperation of the Government of Bangladesh."

"However, it is the policy of the Palestinian government to accept scholarships exclusively from universities recognised by the Palestinian Ministry of Education. As a result, we are unable to permit the enrollment of our students in universities not accorded such recognition. The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Bangladesh takes decisions in accordance with the policies of the Palestinian government," he further said.

Yusuf Ramadan also said, "All other recognised universities in Bangladesh are wholeheartedly welcome to extend opportunities for admission to Palestinian students. The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Bangladesh will do the needful in coordinating their admissions and arrival in Bangladesh, as it has been doing for years."

Meanwhile, Kamal Ahmed, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Asian University for Women, visited Palestine earlier this month.

During the visit, he met with Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, and Amjad Barham, minister of education and higher education.

Kamal Ahmed mentioned that the two Palestinian ministers expressed their gratitude to him for arranging scholarships for students from Gaza.

Speaking to Prothom Alo over the phone from Palestine last Thursday, Kamal Ahmed said, “In 2021, the Bangladesh government arranged arrival VISAs for more than 600 Afghan students to study at the university. At that time, the Bangladesh government did not wait for approval from the Taliban government of Afghanistan. Students have also come to study from other countries including Syria and Yemen. Before issuing their VISAs, no permission was sought from the respective governments. Why is there such an exception in the case of Palestine?”

Kamal Ahmed further said, “We earnestly request the government to immediately arrange VISAs for the Palestinian female students.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian students awaiting admission and their family members have been contacting the Asian University for Women authorities for two to three months via email and social media. The situation in Palestine is rapidly deteriorating due to Israel’s increasing brutality against the people there. Now, each delayed day means more loss of life in Palestine.

One Palestinian student sent a message saying, “We are eagerly waiting to come to Bangladesh and study. Is there still hope?”