MUN Bangladeshi students ask university for flexibility as protests at home limit access to banks

Turmoil in Bangladesh has left Memorial University students from the country worried not only about their family and friends but also about how they will pay for tuition and other educational fees.

Bangladesh has been under an internet outage since Thursday as part of the government's response to protests over job quotas. The outage has left many without access to their bank accounts, says third-year bioscience and gender studies student Quazi Muhammad Nafis Abrar of Bangladesh.

Witnessing from afar the violence that has erupted in his home country and fearing for his family's safety has been an emotional roller-coaster he told CBC News on Tuesday.

"Finals are knocking at the door and I have not been able to focus at all," he said.

"I cannot get the image of all the other people dying back home, and they're my peers."

It's not safe for people to go outside, he said.

"A lot of people have died and they were not even a part of the protest. And I would not risk their lives for anything."

He says he and other Bangladeshi students, through the student union, have asked MUN to take their situation into consideration and show some flexibility with assignment deadlines, final exams and upcoming tuition fees.

"Allow us a little more time without charging us the late payment fees," he said.

Shafi Abrar, an engineering student at MUN and spokesperson for the Student Alliance for Bangladesh and Canada, told CBC News it's nearly impossible to work part-time and pay an entire semester's tuition at once. Many rely on family support and gradually pay the amount until the end of the semester.

"At least allow us to register," he said. "Once the situation gets back to normal, we can definitely get funds from home."

MUN looking at solutions: spokesperson

MUN communications manager Chad Pelley said the university is looking into potential solutions for Bangladeshi students affected by the chaos back home.

Students can seek help from the Internationalization Office for their specific cases, he said. Students can also avail of emergency financial support,including short-term loans and emergency bursaries, from the university's Student Life office.

WATCH | Students hope for some leeway until they regain access to funds:

With a crisis at home, Bangladeshi students want MUN to suspend tuition payments

2 months ago

Duration 2:37

As violence sweeps their home country, Bangladeshi students in St. John's are facing another crisis: looming tuition payments. Protests in Bangladesh have cut off some students at Memorial University from friends, family and financial support and the new semester is right around the corner.

On Tuesday, Bangladeshi students at MUN organized their second protest in solidarity with student protesters back home, this time also to demand justice for the lives lost since the protests in Bangladesh began.

"It is about the people who are mercilessly killed and beaten and injured in Bangladesh," Shafi Abrar said. "The students want justice for that."

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