As Iraqi Kurds push for independence and international solidarity for the Peshmerga forces against the recent Islamic State (IS/ISIS) offensive on Kurdistan, thousands of Kurdish students on scholarships abroad have become unintended ambassadors across the world.
Since the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) introduced the Human Capacity Development Program HCDP in 2010, some 4,350 graduates have received scholarships to study at prestigious universities abroad.
Nariman Khana Rahim, 29, a Kurd earning a master’s degree at the Sorbonne University in Paris, said that one unintended benefit of the scholarship program was that Kurdish students had raised greater international recognition for Kurdistan.
“If the HCDP had no benefits for Kurdistan except sending out some Kurdish students, I firmly believe that is enough,” said Rahim, who actively participated in a Kurdistan independence rally in France and in demonstrations condemning IS brutalities against the Yezidi and Christian minorities.
“The people here, at the highest intellectual level -- the universities -- now have a good understanding of the Kurdish cause for independence,” he said.
Illustrating his own case, he said his supervising professor was very impressed with Kurdistan and Kurdish students.
“My French supervising professor visited Kurdistan twice since I started my studies in the country. He tells me that, among the many students he has ever had from all nationalities ‘Kurdish students are the best,’” Rahim said. “He continuously asks me where we are in regard to the referendum and the independence.”
Shivan Toma, a 31-year-old Christian from Duhok at Britain’s University of Leeds, said he had presented two seminars at his school about minorities in Iraq and Kurdistan, especially Christians and Yezidis. He observed that many Britons do not know there are Christians in Iraq, and most have never heard of the Yezidis, who are Kurds but have their own religious beliefs.
Both Rahim and Toma – who has two brothers at the frontlines with the Peshmerga and police -- are worried about friends and families back home. Toma is busy preparing for a demonstration in Leeds against the IS and in solidarity with Kurdistan.
Both spoke about greater awareness and admiration for the Peshmerga forces among the French and British people.
Fazel Jamal, a full-time PhD student at Manchester University, is not on an HCDP scholarship. But he has participated in rallies in solidarity with Kurdistan, and appeared on British channels calling for humanitarian and military help for Kurdistan.
“Most of the British people I know want to understand what is happening. They say they find it very helpful to talk to someone who can explain this complicated situation. They are impressed by the courage of the Peshmerga who are fighting ISIS, and want the UK government to help.” said Jamal.
Omar Fouad Ghafor, a lecturer from Halabja University, was in the United States with 13 other Kurdish academics when the Mount Shingal crisis began to unfold early this month. He said the Americans generally were very concerned about the deteriorating situation in Kurdistan.
“The American instructors were always asking us to share anything new (about the war) we might have heard before we started our lessons,” Ghafor said.
