<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-14/russian-students-in-australia-ukraine-war/102172504>
'Russian student Ruslan fiercely opposes the invasion of Ukraine and was
threatened with arrest after attending three anti-war protests in Moscow.
So he didn't expect to face discrimination in Australia, where his views align
with popular opinion.
After coming here as a tourist last year, he decided to enrol in a Master of
Creative Arts at Deakin University, based on a friend's recommendation.
"I applied because it was my friend's university and, when I got declined, I
was so surprised," he told the ABC.
"I was so upset about that," said Ruslan, who asked that only his first name be
published because of concerns of possible retaliation from Russian authorities.
The rejection letter he received explained that Deakin had a blanket policy.
"Due to current circumstances, the University is not accepting any new students
from Russia," the letter said.
Deakin University did not respond to the ABC's request for comment.
Many Russian students in Australia are wary of speaking publicly, because of
the sensitivity of the situation.
Those who were willing to talk to the ABC said they had been impacted by
Moscow's decision to invade Ukraine in a variety of ways.
However, they said, discrimination from Australians based on their nationality
was the exception rather than the rule.
And they all wanted to make clear that they didn't believe their struggles in
any way compared to what Ukraine's citizens were going through.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
