A Russian dissident who is seeking
asylum in Italy said on Tuesday red tape is thwarting her desire
to graduate.
Daria Kryukova, 32, fled from Russia at the start of the war of
aggression against Ukraine to escape possible imprisonment for
an anti-Putin blog.
Kryukova, who already holds a degree in sociology, told Corriere
di Bologna she had passed the entrance test and enrolled to
study business administration and management at Bologna
University, and has already taken five exams.
However, she says she cannot graduate since her residence permit
as an asylum seeker is not considered valid for matriculation.
"I am enrolled and have taken exams, but my university career is
not activated," she said.
"It is a paradox: as an asylum seeker in Italy I can work and
pay taxes, but I cannot graduate. I have written to the rector,
to the professors, to the secretariat of my faculty, but there
is no solution," she continued, saying that "a political act' by
the university would be required.
"The issue the student raises is real and serious: asylum
seekers cannot matriculate," said Marco Borraccetti, delegate
for refugee students and associate professor in EU law, adding
that under current rules for Kryukova to graduate the university
would need to wait for her asylum claim to be adjudicated.
"They can enroll in any other school of any order and grade,
they can work, but they cannot enroll at Bologna University" and
in other universities that have not chosen the path of
"suspended" matriculation, of which there are only a few in
Italy.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
