Let us recall that two weeks ago the authorities of Turkmenistan decided to grant travel permits to 57 students, who had been previously included in the refusenik list, to resume their studies in Bulgaria. All these young people are fellows of TASP, a program administered by the US Department of State, and had been previously enrolled in the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek.

The US Embassy in Turkmenistan petitioned the Turkmen side to secure exit permits for all 150 students (according to other sources - 165), who overnight had been barred from travelling.

After releasing one third of the students, apparently the Turkmen authorities felt that the “bargaining” with the US Embassy was over.

“It is offensive that my friends managed to escape and have already resumed studies in a European country, but we are still stuck here and I fear that the Americans will provide no further support. They were our last hope” – says one of the remaining students who is still not permitted to exit the country.  

In the meantime, after the TASP fellows left the country, some of the refusenik students contacted the Migration Service again. The head of the agency met with them and said that the Ministry of Education is allegedly overseeing this issue. The young people immediately headed for the Ministry. However, they were bitterly disappointed– the Ministry officials distributed a form to be filled out to indicate all personal data and data of all relatives up to the third generation. All the data was supposed to be verified by a set of documents: parents’ employment certificates, residence registration, proof of family status etc.

“We have played this game with the Migration Service when the agency executive requested to submit a pile of documents, but answered in one sentence” - one of the students summed up the results of the meeting with the officials.

At the same time, the fates of students who have already arrived at the American University in Bulgaria (AUB) remain unclear, especially those who had already completed their course of study in Bishkek (graduates). Several departments and fields of study, which the students selected in the AUCA, are not available at the University. Moreover, according to the AUB curriculum the students are unlikely to receive credits for all the subjects they have already taken.

ACCELS refuses to transfer the students (at least graduates) back to the AUCA to give them an opportunity to complete their studies in the chosen fields of specialization.

The reason behind the refusal is that the authorities of Turkmenistan have only allowed travel permits to Bulgaria, and nowhere else.