MSU will provide food and housing for the Libyan students and their families in the MSU Visiting International Professional Program, or VIPP, after funding for the program was ended by the Libyan government at the end of March.
The VIPP is a non-degree professional education program designed for mid-level career professionals from across the world, university spokesman Kent Cassella said. The program was intended to last two years — through this December — with the first year focusing on English skills and the second on international relations, he said.
The 35 Libyan students in the program were selected to study in the U.S. by the Libyan government, but the Libyan National Economic Development Board ended program funding in March. MSU decided to run the program through the end of the semester, Cassella said.
The students’ visas will expire 30 days after their program.
“MSU is empathetic with the many, many challenges this change in plans has created for the students and their families,” Cassella said. “We’re committed to assisting them during this unexpected period of transition.”
Cassella said MSU now is providing emergency assistance to the students and the families, including meal tickets and university housing at Spartan Village Apartments and Owen Graduate Hall. MSU hasn’t set a time line for the aid, but it will be temporary, he said.
MSU University Development also has set up the Libyan Student Fund and is accepting donations to offset the cost of providing aid to the Libyan students and their families — including help with housing, food and health insurance, Cassella said.
Mohamed Gibril, a student in the program, said the VIPP students recently were visited by FBI agents to make sure they felt safe and free from retaliation by Libyan students in the U.S. who support the Libyan government. Gibril has protested against the regime of Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, after political turmoil broke out in Libya this February.
“There are threats of that sort, but we don’t know if it is real or just propaganda,” he said. “We gave them the whole information, and the FBI said they will take care of it.”
Gibril said he has felt more secure since MSU said it will provide the students with housing, but he and other students have had difficulties breaking the leases at their apartments. Breaking his lease requires paying two months of rent, but since the students do not have any more money from their government and cannot receive money from their families in Libya, many cannot afford to pay those fines, he said.
Gibril also is working to fill out asylum forms for himself and helping several other students to do the same. Ideally, filling out these forms requires legal advising — something the university is legally not allowed to provide, he said.
“We’re trying to find lawyers who can do that for free,” Gibril said. “Some lawyers ask for $9,000 — what we have is way less than that.”
James Newton, an attorney with ASMSU Legal Services, said there are very few attorneys in the Lansing area that deal with immigration law. However, he said the department would be willing to talk to the students about breaking the contracts at their apartments, though landlords likely will not be understanding.
ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.
Ambarak Elatrash, another student in the program, said he will be returning to Libya at the end of the semester next week and returning to his job at the Ministry of Social Affairs. He said he is looking forward to seeing his family and being a part of solving the situation the Libyan government currently faces.
Many other VIPP students also hope to return to Libya, but Elatrash said he thinks he is the first one to establish travel plans.
“There are a lot of people that want to go back,” Elatrash said. “I’m not really sure about when.”
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