The diplomatic fallout between France and Sahel countries is causing uncertainty and anxiety among students planning to study in Paris.
Ophélie Ouédraogo, a first-year medical student in Montpellier, was due to leave for France at the start of the new academic year, but now she’s stuck because her visa has been cancelled.
“I’m doing the distance learning courses because unfortunately I couldn’t leave because my passport was blocked at the consulate due to the suspension of visas. So I contacted my university and my preparatory school, which gave me the opportunity to do these distance learning courses,” said Ophélie Ouedraogo, a medical student.
Thousands of students from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are now stranded after French consulates there were closed for what Paris says are security reasons. People like Ophelie are having to follow their classes online – a situation that wasn’t planned, given that she’s studying medicine.
“It has a bit of a psychological effect because you didn’t expect to be stuck here. You expected to leave in… well, not as soon as possible, but in the best possible conditions to be able to start… for example, since I’m doing a year of medicine, to be able to start my year of medicine well. But now the situation has changed. We can’t control the situation, so we’re stuck here and we try to stay positive as best we can, even if it’s complicated sometimes, but we always stay positive,” said Ophélie.
Over the past three years, military juntas have forcibly taken over the leadership of countries facing jihadism and plunged them into deep crisis, pointing the finger of blame for their ills historically at France.
The suspension of visa issuing by local consulates is just one aspect of what Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has called the “downsizing of our embassies”.
It affects not only students, but also researchers and artists. The cultural world in France was in an uproar when news of the suspension reached artists. The government was accused of retaliating at the expense of culture.
