Police & Diaspora Students in Conflict

“When it comes to handling the residency permit of such students [diaspora students], universities and colleges do not always fulfill their obligations in a timely manner which leads to a myriad of problems for the students.” A group of diaspora students who are members of Nicol Aghbalian Students Association declared at a press conference last week. The Nicol Aghbalian Association is affiliated with ARF-Dashnak party.

According to Hetq daily edition of 27 November 2008, the Article 14-Part 3 of the Law on Foreign Citizens stipulates that foreign citizens, including foreign students, seeking residency status must pay a certain sum to the state.

In the case of foreign students, the institutions of higher education normally handle the matter on behalf of their students. This is based on a certain arrangement between Armenian public universities and the infamous OVIR agency (the Police Department’s Division of Passports and Visas). According to this arrangement, universities pay to OVIR and include the sum in the tuition fees charged to the students. OVIR issues temporary residency permit of 1 year and 30 days which, if and when needed, should be renewed before the expiration date.

According to Nicol Aghbalian Association activists, not all institutions conduct the required paperwork on time. Thus, many continuing/returning students (students who stay in Armenia for more than a year) are subject to penalties ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 AMD (160 – 320 USD).

The police have even visited the homes of many such students demanding immediate payment of the penalties and threatening them with deportation.

Some diaspora students who had petitioned the Ministry of Education and Science regarding this issue were told that the Ministry has asked the universities to undertake the payment of the penalties. It seems, however, that police visits continue and that universities have not paid the penalties yet despite the fact that they are the ones at fault.

Not Calling a Rotten Apple, A Rotten Apple

Diaspora students affiliated with ARF-Dashnak party may have discovered the issue for the first time but for hundreds of regular diaspora and foreign students in Armenia the intriguing way in which their residency permits are renewed every year has nothing new or so shocking.

The late filing of requests to renew the residency permits of foreign students has never been regarded as accidental or due to the prevalent ineffective bureaucratic work style at Armenian universities. Quite the opposite, this has been considered a regular set-up between some institutions of higher education and the police - an organized and well-oiled mechanism thanks to which some OVIR officials have systematically extracted money from diaspora and foreign students. The rate has varied from 100 to 200 USD for each “late” student.

It is not, therefore, surprising to see that OVIR officers chase students, even as far as going to their homes. This is not because they have suddenly become conscientious and concerned about the rule of law in this country. It is just because they cannot afford loosing this annual opportunity; the months of October and November are when most – almost all – foreign students renew their residency permits. In other words, this is when the delays “happen” thanks to which they collect “penalties”.

The Ministry of Education and Science, on its part, has always been well-informed of this practice but has never admitted it. The Ministry doesn’t like to call a rotten apple, a rotten apple. In his television interview at H1 Haylur news edition of 2 December 2008, Mr. Spartak Seyranian, Minister of Education and Science went as far as thanking the police for their “collaboration”.

He thanked them for accepting to lower the amount of all penalties this year to 50,000 AMD, to be paid by the universities. But this generosity will not be repeated next year, and he added that “diaspora students must realize that they must comply with the laws of this country”.

Thanking OVIR and putting the blame on diaspora students show how pathetic Mr. Seyranian can get.

Ambiguities

It is important to note that the Ministry of Education is one the portfolios ceded to ARF-Dashnak party in a power-sharing agreement last March. The ARF-Dashnak party is a junior partner in the ruling 4-party coalition in Armenia and Mr. Spartak Seyranian is one of its high ranking officers.

Now, why do Mr. Seyranian and his young comrades at the party – the Nicol Aghbalian Students Association - wash their dirty laundry in public, remains unclear. Is this a reflection of some internal party dynamics; a struggle between different factions or a conflict between young idealist party members and their grumpy conservative leaders?

Or, given the extent of discontent among diaspora students, is it an attempt by the party to control and contain their dissatisfaction by becoming their voice, in order to save the minister?

Then why is the whole attention, including that of the media, focused on diaspora students, ignoring foreign students completely? Is it considered acceptable that some non-Armenians are obliged to pay bribes to have their residency permits renewed?

Hopefully, some of these questions will find their answers in the days to come.
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Abkhazia Monkey Station Revived

EurasiaNet recently published an interesting and funny story on the revival of Abkhazia’s ‘monkey station’.

Written by Elizabeth Owen, EurasiaNet’s Caucasus news editor, the article notes that as far as Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia is concerned one interesting question has been overlooked so far: what it means for Sukhumi’s monkeys.

… Set on a mountaintop overlooking the Black Sea, Sukhumi’s Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Pathology and Therapy -- commonly known as ‘the monkey station’ -- was legendary in Soviet times. In bygone times, it was one of the world’s leading primate research centers …

That legend fell on hard times after the 1992-1994 Georgian-Abkhaz war, which caused the loss of monkeys, staff and money. Now, with fresh research pursuits and a recent monkey baby boom, institute scientists hope that official recognition of Abkhazia will let their 81-year-old center make a comeback.

“I won’t say that as of tomorrow everything will be different, but the tempo [of work] will become faster,” said Institute Director Tamaz Kubrava in a recent interview with EurasiaNet. “We’ll have direct contact with all establishments in Russia, without middlemen or anything else. That’s what recognition gave us,” Kubrava continued.

… Conversations and memoranda of intent with Russian institutes have reportedly picked up pace since Russia’s August recognition of Abkhazia … A monkey baby boom has recently begun: The institute’s monkey population now tops “over 300” for the first time since the war in the early 1990s. The number pales with the 7,000 monkeys which once were housed here … but staff see the pick-up as a sign of positive change.

“Monkeys, like people, react to cold, to food, to psychological conditions … [After the war] a lot of dead monkeys were born or the monkeys couldn’t give birth because they were weak. That’s already over now. That’s finished. They’re in good condition.” And the monkeys’ mood has changed to one of self-confidence, staff scientists note …

Financial matters are less of a lighthearted matter. The institute, which operates as part of Abkhazia’s Academy of Sciences, has a 15 million ruble (just under 551,000 USD) budget for 2009. While Kubrava affirms that the sum is "adequate at this stage," the costs for attending overseas conferences or buying up-to-date equipment can prove prohibitive.

… Some 170 employees now work in Sokhumi, down from a Soviet-era peak of 1,000. Nanotechnology -- the study of how molecules can be broken down to the nanoscale -- heads up the list of today’s research interests. "In particular, we’re looking at how magnetite acts on monkeys, on what systems it works, … For a long time, in Soviet times, we were busy with nanotechnology? But we didn’t suspect that it was nanotechnology," …

The study of longevity -- set in context against Abkhazia’s reputation for residents living past the age of 100 -- is another focus. The potential use of Sukhumi monkeys for research for a Russian space expedition to Mars is also under discussion.

But the past still often seems to merge seamlessly with the present. Inside the institute’s museum, a statue of Lenin still stands proud; a Soviet-era wall placard displays a quote from Friedrich Engels to instruct visitors that Darwin delivered "the strongest blow" by proving that "the entire organic world" is "a product of evolution."

…One aspect of the present … that largely eludes discussion is the intricacies of Abkhazia’s strained ties with Georgia. Amid the palm trees and testing centers, geopolitical tug-of-wars are irrelevant. It is just the monkeys that count. Commented Institute Director Kubrava: “Our business is purely science. It’s quite different.”

To read the article in full, please click here .
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Matthew Collin, a Georgia- based journalist and blogger, recently discussed a Dutch film called “The Lost Colony”, directed by Matt Codd and Astrid Bussink and released in 2008, which looks at the ‘Monkey station’ past and present, and claims that in Soviet times, scientists tried to create a cross-breed hybrid of monkeys and humans. It also indicates that a few Sukhumites believe that some of the monkeys, who fled the 1992-1994 Georgian-Abkhaz war, are still hiding somewhere in the woods, and they even leave food out for them, hoping they will someday return .
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Late Funding For Azeri Students Abroad

As the confusion with the establishment of Luyce Foundation in Armenia continues, its older sister organization in Azerbaijan is experiencing an equally chaotic situation.

According to APA Azerbaijani news agency press release dated 25 November 2008, parents of a group of students studying within the “State Program on Education of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad” gathered in front of the Parliament and complained about the non-payment of tuition fees by the government. They claimed that they have been obliged to pay for the education of their children so far.

Members of the Parliament promised to “study the issue".

A senior financial adviser to the Ministry of Education, Adila Ahmadova, told APA that the reason for non-payment of tuition fees is that the Cabinet of Ministers had not yet approved the reimbursement scheme.

Last year, tuition and housing expenses were paid on the basis of bills submitted by the universities and housing facilities in which the Azerbaijani students studied and lived. According to the 3 June 2008 decision by the Cabinet of Ministers, from this year on, the expenses will be paid on the basis of a set of standard prices. Ahmadova said that when and after this pricelist has been established and approved, all pending expenses from the beginning of the academic year will be reimbursed.

The official added that this year the Ministry will need about 5 million AZN (about 6 million USD) to cover the expenses of nearly 200 students studying in 19 countries. She claimed the students have had no problems with their tuition, travel expenditures, and visa tariffs; except for their accommodation expenses.

The “State Program on Education of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad” is funded by the State Oil Fund. The State Oil Fund told APA that there were no financial problems in this respect: “We are waiting for the approval of the pricelist”.
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