New Delhi: With travel restrictions imposed for the past 20 months, Indian medical students enrolled in Chinese universities are yet to return to the campuses and are worried about their belongings in their hostel rooms.
Reports said the students’ belongings were being dumped out to make room for fresh students.
“There are several videos doing the rounds among the student community of piles of luggage dumped outside hostel rooms. It’s been close to two years since we left and have no idea as to what is happening to our belongings,” a third-year medical student wishing to remain anonymous was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Indian students studying in Chinese universities returned to India last year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic was first reported among humans in China in December 2019 that led to the complete lockdown of the Chinese cities since early 2020.
Many students who left China at that time left their belongings behind hoping to return soon. But China’s continuous travel ban on international students has made their return uncertain. Only South Korean and American students have been granted permission to return so far.
Another student, Ishwari Chandran, completed her internship online after graduated from the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, recently. “My university has let us keep all our things. They haven’t charged any dorm fee either. In fact, they refunded a part of it for the days we weren’t there,” she told the paper.
Meanwhile, students attending online lectures online from here are under acute mental stress and anxiety. Fourth-year MBBS student at Jianghan University, Wuhan, China, Neha said, “The MBBS course requires students to gain practical experience. For almost two years we’ve been bereft of that. It’s starting to bother my confidence.”
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