Libyan students in America hurt by freeze on Gadhafi's assets

[trud]

Source: CNN

"Abdelwanis, who is earning a doctorate in industrial engineering, is one of about 2,000 Libyans studying in the United States. They are dependent on scholarships provided by the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

But with about $30 billion of the government's assets frozen by the U.S. government, Libya is now unable to cover all of the tuition, living expenses and health insurance costs of the students and their families. The money, which is administered by a Canadian non-profit group, will run out on May 31"

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/26/libyan.students/index.html?section=cnn_latest

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That evil Qaddafi, providing scholarships for students. Well, the US will fix that.

[w4rma]

1. I'm sure some sort of exception can be made for this situation. (nt)

[pampango]

2. Sounds like the Canadian Bureau for International Education is trying to work this out.

About 2,000 Libyan students who attend college in the U.S. will lose financial support after Libya lost access to about $30 billion in assets that were frozen by the United Nations and the U.S. as a result of the military conflict in that country. Student visa requirements prohibit the students from working, and lack of support from their government means the students will be left without money for tuition and living expenses.

Jennifer Humphries of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, which distributes the funds in the U.S. and Canada, said talks are under way that might lead to some of the frozen assets being released by the U.S. and Canadian governments so the students can get their expenses covered. “It is important for CBIE to prepare for a scenario in which we do not receive new funding by May 31 and therefore we are currently exploring ways to pay for June health insurance premiums and monthly living allowances,”’ the letter said.

In March, Libyan assets were frozen by the U.N., U.S. and Canada in an attempt to keep them from Gadhafi.

The Libyan-North American Scholarship Program is a joint collaboration between Libya, Canada and host universities in Canada and the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/libya-ending-government-support-at-months-end-for-2000-students-attending-us-colleges/2011/05/13/AFzNLi2G_story.html

[Iterate]

3. Most universities have staff familiar with this or similar situations.

It happens nearly every time there is civil conflict.

One of the more important things that can happen now is for DHS to grant Temporary Protected Status to Libyan students in the US.

Why they haven't done this already, I have no idea. They are actively being lobbied to do so by several professional groups representing university and financial aid professionals. There is no reason for young students to fear being sent back to Libya against their will right now. They have enough to worry about already.

Temporary Protected Status & Deferred Enforced Departure
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=390d3e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=390d3e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

There is no single solution in the US dealing with the financial aid problem. The student visas limit their ability to work. Each university deals with these situations differently, some with grants, some with loans and deferred payments. Again, it's likely there would be knowledgeable staff at hand, especially on a large campus.

IIRC, the Transitional National Council has said the student aid programs would be continued (and even expanded), but they have their hands full now as well. There was some talk of using part of their recent loans to cover students abroad, but that was two or three weeks ago and I know of nothing further.

For anyone interested in a longer term solution, there are actually groups of activists trying to solve the problem of the corrupt use of national wealth as a personal piggy bank by dictators. For every one of them, there are 50 or so on K Street trying to keep the status quo. It's not likely anyone will see results in the next three-day news cycle, but if their efforts can be supported a 20-year timeline is not out of the question.

If anyone knows of a Libyan student who is having a problem, please PM and I'll see if I can put them in contact with someone who can help.