MANGALURU: Afghan students studying in Mangaluru on Saturday appealed to the government to grant them refugee status as their return home appears impossible with horrific reports emerging from their country after the Taliban took control.
A group of around 50 students and their family members met City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar and submitted a representation. It said that visas of students who are to complete their courses this year will expire in a couple of months and requested the police to temporarily extend the validity by at least six months. A majority of them are UG, PG students and research scholars at Mangalore University. Some are also studyging at NIT-K, Surathkal and St Aloysius College.
Afghan student representative Nasir Ahmad Shafiei said, “We request the Indian government to grant us work permits on humanitarian grounds as staying in India will become difficult once our courses are completed. We told the police commissioner that right now, we are not facing any financial problem, but it won’t be the same once we have to leave the hostels.” They requested the government to take steps to bring back nearly 100 students stranded in Afghanistan after they went home for vacation.
They said that these students who have secured admissions and scholarships in various educational institutions in Mangaluru with the aid of the Indian government be given emergency visas as the academic year is commencing. The students said they are spending sleepless nights as things are getting worse back home. Kumar said he will forward their request to the State government.
“I will bring the plight of students stuck in Afghanistan to the notice of ADGP Umesh Kumar, who has been appointed by the government as nodal officer to coordinate with the Central government to bring back people from Karnataka stuck in Afghanistan,” he said.