Shattered dreams

The Egyptian students who skipped their cultural exchange programme in pursuit of the American dream were arrested in New York. Reem Leila investigates

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Eleven Egyptian students were arrested in New York this week after their attempt to disappear in the US, rather than take part in the cultural exchange programme they initially signed up for. It all began when 17 Mansoura University students were picked to travel to the US on 29 July, and take part in a cultural exchange programme at Montana University. Six of the students did just that, but the rest had other plans. To them, the trip was an opportunity to travel to the US, find a job and perhaps start a new life. None of them thought they would be front page news, pursued by the FBI as suspected terrorists. By Monday, all of them were in FBI custody. According to US federal law, when any foreign scholar fails to show up after four days of their arrival, the university should notify FBI and Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) that they are missing. Montana University notified the FBI about the 11 students, which in turn issued a lookout to local law enforcement who registered them as "no-shows" in the system developed after 11 September.

None of the six students at Montana were "certain about the status of their fellow students and why they have not made it", explained Magdi Abu Rayan, president of Mansoura University to Al-Ahram Weekly.

The no-show students, whose ages range between 18 and 22 years old, are expected to be deported back to Egypt after being investigated for violating the terms of their visas. "Only God knows when they will return," suggested Abu Rayan. He will travel to the US today in an attempt to solve the problem and help in the release of the 11 as soon as possible.

"I hope I am able to meet the students in order to speak to them and know why they did that," Abu Rayan said. After informing the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Egyptian Consulate in New York -- which was completely unaware of the situation at the beginning -- now the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is exerting "tremendous" effort to "pressure" US authorities to release them, according to the university president. "They are just students and pose no terrorism threat," he assured.

The only concern is that this incident took place close to the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on 11 September, but "fortunately US authorities do not believe that the students are connected to the terror plot in Britain or any other terrorist acts," confirmed Abu Rayan.

Public opinion and students' parents are blaming Mansoura University officials for not sending an escort to accompany the students on the trip. According to Mohamed Suweilam, deputy head of Mansoura University's Education and Students Affairs, students on previous cultural exchange programmes were unaccompanied because a chaperone was not included in the terms of the programme. Moreover, there were three US supervisors waiting for them at the airport to accompany them to Montana University, but they deceived them and abscond. "Even if they were accompanied by 10 supervisors, they would have taken off anyway if that was their intent," stated Suweilam.

Mansoura University will take legal action against the students as soon as they return, and they will be prevented from joining any similar programmes or university activities in the future. They will also be investigated by the university's disciplinary board, and "suspended from university for a period ranging from one month to a whole semester," revealed Suweilam.

Parents of the 11 students were invited to a meeting with Abu Rayan to help officials in finding their sons, or inform the students to turn themselves in either to the Egyptian Embassy or Egyptian Consulate. But only three parents of the 11 attended the meeting, while the others vehemently refused to appear. "Later, we discovered they knew about their children's intention to elope to the United States to look for a job opportunity there," added Suweilam.

The 17 students were selected among 50 students who applied for the programme. According to Nagwa Nawar, head of Mansoura University's English Language Research Centre, the selection of students was based on their financial status because of the high expenses of the trip -- LE32,000 per student. The university applied for 20 student visas, but the US Embassy rejected three students and agreed to the remaining 17. Throughout the week prior to their departure, students attended sessions to teach them the legal regulations of the cultural programme.

"Before their departure, all the students and their parents signed a pledge stating that none of the students would violate US regulations and laws, and to be committed to the type of study stated during the programme and to return to Egypt on schedule," asserted Nawar. Students were also provided with guide booklets, in addition to the phone numbers and addresses of the three supervisors who will be waiting for them at the airport in case any problem popped up.

"I hope this incident will not cast doubt on this programme," stated Abu Rayan. "I personally believe in the importance of mutual cultural and educational exchange programmes for the benefit of our students."