'Please Help Us Return': Students Stranded in Ireland After Flights Canceled due to Pandemic

Photos: Filiz Yalçıntaş

Click to read the article in Turkish

Students from Turkey who have been in Dublin, Ireland for language education are stranded on the island after the cancellation of flights between the two countries on Tuesday (March 17).

Saying that they are facing difficult conditions and under high risk, students wait for the flights to resume. Turkey has canceled flights to and from 20 countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In recent years, many students from Turkey prefer Ireland for English language education as the country gives work permits to students during their stay.

However, life in the country is at a standstill due to the pandemic that has affected Europe, especially Italy. Language schools and other educational institutions have been shut down. People are told that they should not go out except for vital needs. Ireland has so far confirmed over 500 cases and three deaths from coronavirus.

Students are in a difficult situation as they are left unemployed and the language schools are closed. They stay four to six people together in shared rooms. Their lives are at risk.

No refunds

Language schools say that they will not make a refund to students as they will switch to online education. Students want flights to Turkey to restart.

"On March 1, I came here for 25-week language education. I stay here with a family. There are heating and nutritional problems at home. People of Ireland are constantly cutting down on something," says Elif Ceren Korkmaz. "It is impossible not to be sick in these weather conditions. We are afraid of contracting the virus here. The healthcare system here is terrible."

"We are at risk in such an outbreak. Organizing flight for citizens in England, why doesn't Turkey see us, the students who are stranded here? What makes us different from them?"

A student was kicked out of home

"I came to Ireland in March. I received a temporary housing permit. It was a four-week stay with an Irish family. In the first week, I went to school, there were no problems. In the second week, schools were suspended. A few days later, the family started to put pressure, saying, 'Don't go out, stay in your room.' There was no curfew or anything," says a student who does not want to share his/her name.

"It wasn't legal for them to ask for it. Besides, I wasn't going out to wander around. I was looking for a home to stay, my temporary housing permit was about to expire. When I came home one day, the family told me that 'We don't want you to stay with us anymore. It is better for you and us that you go back to your country. They are giving us advice with an attitude as if we are spreading the disease here."

Flights were canceled without notice

Two women students said in a video they shared on Twitter that their flights to Turkey were canceled without notice.

"In the following days, all flights from Ireland to Turkey were canceled. We expect the additional time granted to citizens in other banned countries to be granted to us as well," they said.

Sesimizi duyun artık lütfen #Dublinairporttabekliyoruz ⁦@TC_Dublin⁩ ⁦@saglikbakanligi⁩ ⁦@TC_Disisleri⁩ ⁦@RTErdogan⁩ pic.twitter.com/9gQZ37D2RI

— Dehliz (@real_deehlizz) March 19, 2020

"We continue to stay here without knowing how long we will stay, most of our friends have left the homes they stayed in the day they bought tickets because they had to leave, and they do not know how long they will be staying at the places they are staying now. Please help us return from Ireland to our country as soon as possible." (FY/EMK/VK)