Hundreds of Syrian students in the UK could be sent home to face detention, torture, and possibly execution. Let’s raise our voices to demand the government supports them to continue their education here.
Click here now to sign and tell everyone about it!
Dear friends,
Hundreds of Syrian students in the UK could be days away from being sent back home to face detention, torture, and possibly execution, unless we persuade the government to help them!
The Syrian conflict has left students across the country without funding and now they’re threatened with expulsion back to Syria -- where Assad’s brutal regime may arrest, torture or kill them. But if we join hands with the students now, we can get our ministers to offer them a lifeline, as they did with Libyan students two years ago.
They’re caught in a trap -- with no government support at home or abroad, these students are moments away from deportation. Every minute counts -- click here to sign the petition calling on universities minister David Willetts to intervene so they can remain in the UK, then forward this widely.
Even in the UK, young Syrians can’t escape Assad’s bloody conflict. The impact of sanctions are biting deep and in order to bankroll his desperate efforts to cling to power, his government is now strangling vital funds for students abroad. And for those who are funded privately, channels have dried up too, as parents are killed or companies go bust.
Under university regulations, students who cannot pay face expulsion, and for foreign students, this is a violation of their visa terms leading to deportation. But the Foreign Secretary William Hague and Universities Minister David Willetts can stop this from happening. He has the power to ensure that Syrian students are able to continue their studies in the UK – like he did for the Libyan students affected by the conflict in 2011.
Let's call on Mr. Hague, the Universities Minister David Willetts, and their colleagues in Scotland to do the same for Syrian students.
For nearly 2 years, Avaaz members around the world have stood in solidarity with all those who have suffered at the hands of the Assad regime. Today our continued action could help save the lives of hundreds.
With hope and determination,
Loup Dargent
On behalf of Iain, Alice, Alex, Sam, Alaphia, Meredith, Will, Wissam and the whole Avaaz team
PS: This petition was started on Avaaz's new Community Petitions Site. It's quick and easy to start a petition on any issue you care about, click here: avaaz.org/en/petition/
More information:
- Syrian Students In UK Face 'Deportation, Torture, Death' As Cannot Pay Tuition Fees (Huffington Post)
- Libyan students in UK assured funds for tuition and living secure (The Guardian)
- Syrian students in Britain hit by funding crisis (The Daily Star)
