Resolution on Iranian Students in Europe

Due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the situation for Iranian students in Europe is becoming more precarious. It is difficult to pinpoint how many Iranian students are pursuing tertiary education in Europe on student visas right now, but studies have pointed out that the number of Iranian students enrolled in higher education abroad has grown significantly in the last three years. Bombardments on Iranian cities, banking embargos, and the inflation of the Iranian currency have had negative effects on Iranian students enrolled in European institutions who want to continue their studies and re-enroll in higher education after summer. This not only affects their ability to fulfil their right to education, but also endangers students to their student visas being revoked, which entails the possibility of being sent back to Iran. Students who have been politically active in general or specifically active against the Iranian regime during their stay in Europe are being put at risk of being sent back to an actively hostile country.

ESU highlights a number of ways that Iranian visa-holding students in Europe face difficulties right now. Many problems are related to the banking embargos imposed on Iran, which make it difficult for students located in Europe to pay for tuition fees or provide for their daily necessities. This is coupled with the general inflation of Iranian currency, which affects both the cost of living and the ability to ensure tuition payments for the current and next semester. Several European countries also put restrictions on the amount of hours non-EEA students can work besides their studies. This adds to the difficulty of Iranian students to generate additional funds to make up for their loss of income. Without the guarantee that these students will be able to afford to continue their studies in Europe next year, many will face the expiration of their student visa.

Aside from the pressing financial issues, several European countries, like the Netherlands and Belgium, have conditioned the issuing of consecutive student visas on obtaining a number of ECTS per year. This puts added pressure on academic performance during a time when stress and negative mental health outcomes for these students are already high. Being denied re-enrollment due to academic performance can also result in a revocation of student visa rights, which would also put these students at risk of being expelled to their home country against their will.

ESU declares that regular students should never be the victims of geopolitical conflicts. Iranian students in Europe should be supported academically and financially in order to be able to continue their studies, or be given working visa pathways after their studies to avoid being forcibly sent back.

ESU calls for:

HEIs to provide proper psychological support for Iranian students within their student body.

HEIs and national governments to set up funds to support Iranian students in acute financial difficulty due to the conflict, or loosen visa restrictions on working to better enable them to provide for themselves.

HEIs and national governments, where higher tuition fees for non-EEA students apply, to show leniency towards collecting these fees and offering supportive fees for Iranian students to ensure they don’t need to leave Europe due to financial difficulty.

HEIs and national governments to show leniency in assessment and ECTS requirements, allowing students extra time and delays, ensuring they can re-enroll after the summer.

National governments to show leniency in working and student visa requirements to prevent the expulsion of Iranian students from Europe.

Furthermore, ESU reaffirms its commitment to advocating for the inclusion of Iranian students in existing “Students at Risk” programmes and advocating for more countries to implement such programmes.