Dear compassionate supporters,

Thank you for your support of the petition "What Next for African students who fled Ukraine." We are pleased to inform you that we have surpassed 35,000 signatures, which is a significant milestone towards achieving justice and safety for African students in Ukraine.

However, we regret to inform you that Third Country Nationals who have returned to Ukraine from the EU to collect documents are still facing pushback at the borders even one year later. This is causing concern among students, and many who have attempted this trip are advising against it. Despite the challenges at the borders, some students are being asked to return to Ukraine by their universities.

The Ministry of Education in Ukraine (@MON_UKRAINE) is requiring medical students to return to Kyiv by March 14th to write the Krok 2 Exam. However, the ministry is also requiring students to sign a consent form stating that they are responsible for their own safety and life while writing the exam. We have reached out to the ministry of education via email (mon@mon.gov.ua) and fellow students have stated their embassies have also reached out to the Ministry of Education in Ukraine regarding this decision but have yet to receive a response. We encourage others to use the available template in English and Ukrainian to email the ministry as well on our behalf. 

Reports from students who have travelled to Ukraine recently, as well as documented experiences of students who fled last year, provide sufficient evidence to suggest that the Ukrainian government is not concerned with the safety of black and brown students and residents of Ukraine.

A student stated today "all neighbouring countries are denying to give visas (those in Asia and Africa) in such a short time period and the earliest we can get it is by the end of May and they can't delay until then. There are no direct flights to Ukraine and neighbouring countries are not giving visas to fly there either..."

Some of the international students affected by these issues are British nationals. However, the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOtravelGovUK) advises against all travel to Ukraine, citing the ongoing martial law and the fact that few embassies are currently operating in Kyiv.

Last year, Dmytro Kuleba, the minister of foreign affairs for Ukraine (@DmytroKuleba), stated that "Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely." We plead with him to intervene and address the issues at the borders.

Therefore we continue to call on the Ministry of Education and Ukrainian universities to stop coercing students into returning to a country where there is ongoing war and where the safety of this group cannot be assured. Asking students to sign away their lives in exchange for their degrees is not a viable solution.

We are grateful for the Voice Newspaper and Ghana News who have amplified our petition and the current issues we are facing today.

As we continue our fight, we ask for your continued support. Here are some ways you can help:

• Read and share the news articles and videos so more people can learn about our campaign
• Sign and share our petition
• Donate to our Just Giving Page to help students with tuition and emergency funds
• Email a policymaker, your MP, or your university using this template
• Tweet a decision-maker with this open letter
• Leave a comment if you have ideas for how we can win the petition

Thank you again for your support.