Arab students leaving U.S. colleges, universities

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Arab students leaving U.S. colleges, universities September 25, 2001 Posted: 5:40 AM EDT (0940 GMT)

Around the United States, scores of Arab students have dropped out of college and left the country, many of them after being called home by parents fearful of war and anti-Arab sentiment following the terrorist attacks.

Some 47 students from the United Arab Emirates have quit Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. There are also reports of about 100 Arab students leaving other U.S. colleges in the wake of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.

"There are some students who feel anxiety," said Shafeeq Ghabra, spokesman for the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington, D.C. "Their parents back home in Kuwait are more anxious than they are. Some would like to be together with their children."

While it is unclear exactly how many Arab students are leaving, it appears that the vast majority are staying. Of the 570,000 foreign students in the United States, about 40,000 of them are from Arab countries, according to the American Council on Education.

One of the biggest exoduses appears to be from Washington State, with 18,000 students in wheat country.

"For the most part it's because their parents want them back," said Ranna Daud, 20, head of the Muslim Student Association at WSU.

Daud, an Arab-American raised in Pullman, said there has been no violence against the students, though some have been harassed verbally.

Efforts to contact some of the departisafest places in the U.S. for an international student," Bahazig said

http://www.cnn.com/virtual/editions/europe/2000/roof/change.pop/frameset.exclude.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 25, 2001

Answers

Their parents back home in Kuwait are more anxious than they are. Some would like to be together with their children."

I would say something else is at work here. I would think that many of these people have expired visas and probably are afraid they will deported with all the new interest in aliens. The government has no idea where these people are that come into the country on temporary and student visas.

Then there is the possibility of them being 'sleepers' and do not want to be put in the limelight of possible government scrutiny.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 25, 2001.


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