The President of the Republic of Liberia, George Manneh Weah, has ordered his Chief of Staff and Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathanial McGill, to make sure that every Liberian student and Liberian residing in Ukraine is safe and accounted for. Owing to the mandate of the President, Minister McGill, working in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has without delay dispatched Liberia’s Ambassador accredited to Brussels, Isaac Nyenabo, Ph.D., to immediately attend to the needs of Liberians in and out of Ukraine.
From information gathered, Ambassador Isaac Nyenabo flew into Poland, where he met with an array of Liberian students, all studying in the medical field.
On March 2, 2022, at approximately 4:00 p.m. CET, a meeting was conducted between the vast majority of Liberian students who crossed from Ukraine to Poland. The meeting was held in Holiday Park Hotel, Warsaw, Poland.
H.E Isaac Nyenabo, Ambassador from Liberia to Brussels, was sent as chief negotiator between the Liberian students who fled from the Ukrainian crisis and the government. On his itinerary he will be traveling to Romania, Hungary, Germany and Poland.
Upon arrival in Poland, The Liberian Ambassador to the European Union and the Benelux Countries, Isaac Nyenabo, II, had a face-to-face meeting with the Ukraine-based students in Poland.
In attendance were Geraldine C. Kumakeh, Phlidora Martina Browne, Satu Freeman, Tithelma Eliza Martin, Kamara Louckmane, Martina Martin, Lisa B. Lomax, Gayflor Mulbah, Patricia Kpana Sheriff, Edelweiss Serene Mulbah, Taavi Jackollie, Dubard Jones, Augustine Nyumah, Henry Cooper and Mark Sheriff, amongst other.
The meeting started with telecommunications between some government officials and the students because the ambassador wanted to assure the students that he was not acting alone, and that they had the full support of the government. On said call, the Foreign Minister, Dee Maxwell Kameyah, joined the discussion and assured the students, on behalf of President George M. Weah, of the government’s fullest commitment to ensure that they are safe. He also thanked the students for the resilience they have exhibited thus far.
Minister Kemayah, who also appeared in the meeting via telecommunications, informed the students that President Weah has instructed the Ministry of Education to liaise with their families and create a database that will provide record on each and every student to enable the government to adequately respond to their welfare.
Onward in the meeting, the students were asked what they wanted and what kind of help they needed. Responding, they said they were badly in need of feeding and lodging for at least 3 months to help them get back on their feet because the incident of evacuation was abrupt and everything they had were left behind as they fled for their lives.
“We want an extension of our stay in Poland. When we crossed into Poland, each person was given a 15-day stay because we enacted the Article 32 Act on foreigners, which allows you to enter Poland for 15 days without any document being required,” one of the students said.
The majority of students expressed their decision to stay and continue their education because most of their specialties are not offered in Liberia, and the medical students have gone far in their studies and fear that the A.M Dogliotti College of Medicine would not accept them or make them start from the third year.
Furthermore, the students wanted to know more about the “domestic debt” because no student in Ukraine was on a government scholarship and all scholarships were provided by private entities, with the majority of students paying for their own education by means of family or themselves.
After almost three hours of negotiation, the Ambassador, along with the students, were able to come to a conclusion.
Toward feeding and lodging, nothing was promised but the ambassador assured the students that he would make sure the students get what they needed.
Pertaining to the stay in Poland, it was decided that it would be best if the students moved to Germany to further their studies because the Liberian government did not have an embassy in Poland, hence not much connection, so much cannot be done for them in Poland.
Ambassador Nyenabo has meanwhile informed the students that a NOTE VERBALE, dated March 2, 2022, was sent to the European Extended Action Service requesting a meeting with EU authorities in Warsaw. The Liberian delegation is expected to have a meeting with the European Permanent Representative in Warsaw on Friday, March 4, 2022 to discuss the situation of the Liberian students and what can be done to aid their humanitarian/repatriation needs.
The issue of the domestic debt was ruled out, and they came to an understanding that the students were not indebted to the Liberian government nor were they to the Ukrainian government.
The Ambassador was very generous as he purchased supper for all persons present and contributed financially to their upkeep in Poland.
Before the meeting came to a closure, Ambassador Nyenabo, through a zoom conference call with Minister McGill and the medical students, provided the platform for Minister McGill to deliver a special message from the President of Liberia. Before delivering the President’s message, the Minister seemed exceptionally pleased to find out how many Liberians were out of the country studying to become medical doctors and other related health professions.
In delivering the President’s message, Minister McGill told the students that the Liberian President will never neglect his citizens or see them in harm’s way in a foreign country and not come to their aid. He reassured the students that they were priority number one on the President’s working agenda for the day, and that the President kept checking for updates on the well-being of not only the students, but all Liberians fleeing the situation in Ukraine.
The concerns of the students have not yet been put to rest, although the meeting puts them at ease; they have not been let down and abandoned by the government. Will the government fulfill its promises as the clock is ticking away and some students, who had 15 days to reinstate their lives, now have less than 10 to get everything sorted out before they have no option but to return home, not knowing when this tragic war will end for them to return to school?