COLLEGE owners yesterday threatened to seek compensation from the government for financial losses incurred after the Interior Ministry changed its entry requirements for foreign students at the last minute.
“A number of colleges have spent thousands of pounds upgrading their facilities in order to remain competitive and to conform with government requirements, such as building new infrastructure, hiring additional staff and buying extra textbooks,” said Demetris Christoforou, president of the Cyprus Association of Private Tertiary Educational Institutions (PASISTE).
“Now there is a chance that they might not be granted visas and a lot of colleges will suffer great financial losses.”
Speaking to reporters at a news conference yesterday, Christoforou said 4,300 foreign students had applied and been accepted to local colleges around the island, pending the issue of their visas. But three days into the beginning of the second semester, the Interior Ministry informed all private colleges in writing that in order for students from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka to come into the country, they now had to possess a visa issued by the Cyprus consul in their country of residence and not the local immigration department.
“We stress that under no circumstance will foreigners be allowed in without this entry visa from the consul,” said the Ministry.
The measure was introduced as a means to control the number of foreigners seeking political asylum, which has escalated in recent months. Police say a large portion of asylum seekers had initially posed as students in order to gain entry into Cyprus, so as to be able to work during the time it takes the government to assess their asylum applications. Students say they are forced to seek asylum to be able to work in order to complete their studies.
The colleges say they are the ones being made to pay. “It is not our responsibility to control who asks for political asylum or not, or how long it takes for the police to examine each application,” said Christoforou.
“In fact we have received information that the asylum seekers are not students from our colleges and that many come from the occupied areas.”
PASISTE also warned the government risked marring its reputation as a hub of tertiary education among those countries whose younger population wished to study abroad.
“Who wants to go and study in a country where they’ve missed the first weeks of term? It is already nearly three weeks into the new term and the government have now decided to send a team of police officers to interview the candidates themselves before issuing them a visa.
“Who are these people? Are they trained to assess the candidates? Have they got any experience? Are they objective? We are being left completely in the dark and decisions are being made without even consulting us,” he said.
“We have serious doubts that they will still issue the visas because they are delaying procedures far too much. This should have been done months ago or the measures should be suspended until the summer when there is more time to prepare.”
He also stressed the colleges were willing to co-operate with the authorities and to implement the new measures required to secure a visa, but that they should be for next semester.
Christoforou said PASISTE was waiting for the decision concerning the 4,300 students before deciding to go ahead with legal action. Meanwhile it had also contacted the Ombudswoman, who said she would look into the matter.
