Libyan students may lose their funding to live and study at OU.
All Libyan offshore assets are frozen due to the turmoil in Libya, which includes the funds for the 11 Libyan students at OU, said Monica Sharp, International Student Services director. Most of these are graduate students who are here with their families.
The funds are managed through the Institute for International Education and the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Sharp said.
The institute is still waiting on approval of its license to access Libyan funds through the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, Sharp said. However, the bureau license was recently approved and the bureau students’ accounts will be paid.
OU is discussing options for institute students if their educational and support funding becomes unavailable, Sharp said.
Support funding is about $1,800 per month for a single person, said a Libyan student who requested The Daily refer to him as John. John declined to use his real name due to fears it would pose a danger to his family members still in Libya.
One option is on-campus work, but students can only work a maximum of 20 hours per week during the academic year, Sharp said.
The Libyan students might be eligible for off-campus employment authorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services based on severe and unforeseen economic hardship such as this, Sharp said. Another option is to apply for political asylum.
Asylum is a legal status “under U.S. law ... that may be granted to an alien physically present in the U.S., whom has been determined, among other requirements, to satisfy the U.S. statutory definition of a refugee,” according to the U.S. State Department website.
Tarek Hodairi from Sebha, Libya, is one student affected by this crisis. Hodairi is a doctoral student studying petroleum geochemistry.
The events in Libya have made it difficult to concentrate on academics, Hodairi said.
“I’m glad to be in a safe and peaceful place like America, but at the same time I wish I were at home beside my family,” Hodairi said.
With his monthly living allowance to be stopped soon, Hodairi said his priority is to look for a job so he can complete his studies and support his wife and two children.
Hodairi hopes the U.S. government understands Libyan students have nothing to do with the dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Libyan student funds need to be released immediately because many Libyan students are considering returning to Libya rather than attempting to balance school and work, Hodairi said.
“This is not the right time to go back,” Hodairi said. “This puts their lives at risk.”
Leaving the United States is not an option for John because he said he only has one semester left before completing his graduate degree.
John will work off campus or look for a position as a teaching assistant if funding is not made available to him, he said.
John said he wishes he was in Libya with his family.
He said he has to learn of events in Libya from the media and has been unable to contact his family for more than 40 days.
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Nader 1 year, 1 month ago
I don't advice the Libyan student to go back home now. I know most of us wants to go back, but we came here for a reason, we can to lean all the knowledge that will help in building the new Libya, and we should achieve those goals. I'm very optimistic for the future, and hope all the student will be. Nader Mehdawi