China on Thursday gave the go ahead to a batch of Sri Lankan students, studying in Chinese universities but currently stranded in their home country because of Covid-related restrictions imposed by Beijing, to return to their campuses to resume in-person learning.
China’s decision to allow Sri Lankan students to return was announced by the Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing in a statement on Thursday.
The announcement will be keenly followed by Indian students who are studying in Chinese universities but have also been unable to return since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in early 2020.
The academic lives of nearly 23,000 Indian students who study in China, mostly in medical universities, have been upended because of the travel barriers.
On Thursday, the Lankan embassy issued a brief statement announcing the return of the students.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has informed that the Chinese embassy in Colombo has finalised two (02) groups of students to return to China. Additional students are being processed to return to China,” the Sri Lankan embassy statement said on Thursday.
“The embassy will continue with its efforts to enable all students to return to their studies,” the statement added.
The embassy statement did not say how many students from Sri Lanka study here or how many were being allowed to return.
Thousands of Indian students have been petitioning the Chinese government to allow them to return to resume in-person studies since the end of 2020.
On February 22, a statement from the Indian embassy in China had said that the Chinese foreign ministry had given the assurance that the return of stranded Indian students was not a “political” matter and they will not be “discriminated” against when the ban is lifted on foreign students from returning to China.
“In this regard, the MFA of China has assured the (Indian) Embassy that they are cognisant of the welfare of all foreign students, including Indian students, and have also conveyed that they will work on their early return to China in a coordinated manner and will continue contact with the Embassy on this matter,” the Indian embassy statement had said.
“Chinese MFA also conveyed that the return of Indian students was not a political issue and they will not be discriminated against in any manner while deciding on the return of foreign students to China to resume their education,” the statement added.
According to China’s education ministry, until the end of 2018, 4,92,185 international students from 196 countries and regions were studying in China.
With 23,198 students, India was fourth on the list of a country-wise breakup of students studying in China.
South Korea, with more than 50,000 students, topped the list, followed by Thailand and Pakistan with over 28,000 students each studying in China.
(Daily Mirror)