Twenty Jamaican students arrived at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay on Wednesday evening after fleeing war-torn Ukraine.
Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said of the remaining four students; two have made other travel arrangements. One has arrived in Poland from Kharkiv. The fourth traveled to Romania and will receive assistance from Jamaican contacts.
The students were in Ukraine when Russia invaded the county on February 24 and fled to Poland to escape.
Initially, the students were hesitant to leave Ukraine as the Jamaican government offered the option of a loan to fund their passage back to Jamaica.
Following backlash from the diaspora and social media, the Jamaican government backpedaled and decided to fund the students’ passage home.
On Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith said the government would absorb the travel costs for the students. She explained that the government would underwrite all the students’ transportation and accommodation costs until they arrive in Jamaica. “There is no loan involved,” she said while adding that Jamaica is working with contacts in Ukraine and Poland to ensure that all the arrangements were made.
President of the Opposition People’s National Party President Mark Golding also announced that the party established a U.S. $10,000 emergency fund for the students. Golding said he also made a personal donation to help the students and secured the commitment of a group of psychiatrists to provide counseling services to students when they arrive in Jamaica.
Before the Jamaican government decided to fund the students’ travel, a Florida-based Jamaican organization, Jamaican Men of Florida (JMOF), offered to assist the Jamaican students by underwriting the Jamaican government loan or providing the tickets for the students to travel home.
Jamaican Men of Florida President Dr. Rupert Francis said the students should not have had the added burden of securing a loan to leave the war-torn country. “The safety of the students should be first and foremost. Getting them out of Ukraine must be the highest priority. And, they should not have to deal with getting loans to be able to get home. Loans to which they do not have full details about repayment and interest rates to be charged,” he said.
Dr. Francis pointed out that several countries worldwide are offering to get foreign nationals and Ukrainians out as a matter of priority. He said that the Jamaican government should seek to have the students travel freely.
“The number one priority of any government is the safety of its citizens. Especially in this instance, the students are caught in a situation not of their making. Therefore, the government’s prime focus should be to get them out safely,” he said.
The Jamaican students fled Ukraine and headed to Poland. Rides offered by Ukrainians reduced their nine-hour trek to the Polish border.
On arrival at the border on Sunday night, the Jamaican government and Chargé d’ Affaires, Deniese Sealey, arranged accommodations for the students at a hotel in Poland. The students also received subsistence to purchase personal items.
Minister Johnson-Smith noted that some students were concerned about their future and their studies. “As you know, most of them were hesitant to leave because they were worried about their studies. We had engaged UWI early in this process, we’ll re-engage them to see if there is any possibility at all of the accommodation, and we’ll also reach out to our bilateral partners to see if they have any programs in place which will be seeking to accommodate the students who have been disrupted from their students in Ukraine,” she said in a video message posted to social media on Monday night.
According to the Associated Press, more than half a million people have fled since the Russian invasion. The U.N. believes up to four million refugees could leave Ukraine if the war intensifies. The U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday that it had recorded the deaths of 136 civilians, including 13 children. The actual toll is likely far higher.
