Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith has advised that 22 Jamaican students have arrived in the city of L’viv in Ukraine. 19 have disembarked in L’viv while 3 others were advised by their parents to remain on the train. These 19 students will join the 4 who were already in L’viv and they are scheduled to travel together to Poland as a group on Sunday (February 27, 2022).
The Minister noted that accommodations have been arranged for the students to stay overnight in L’viv, and thanked the two student leaders who led the engagements on the ground before their colleague students arrived by train. She advised that the next stage of their journey would be particularly challenging due to the disruptions to internal transportation and the large numbers of persons trying to pass through the borders. “From all indications and reports, the next stage will be a most challenging one; the border crossing points with Poland are very crowded with lines stretching for miles in certain cases, many persons are making the journey on foot and this of course, is in a context of winter conditions. We are therefore focussed on finalizing transportation for the students,” Minister Johnson Smith said.
The Minister also announced, “I am deploying the Charge d’Affaires in Berlin, Ms. Deniese Sealey to Poland to work with friends of Jamaica, members of the Jamaican community and the Honorary Consul, to receive our nationals on their arrival. She will provide general support to the process, including settling the arrangements made for their accommodation and subsistence, which are already under way. For clarity, the Government will underwrite costs of subsistence in L’viv and in Poland, as well as the transportation costs for the students from L’viv to Poland.” The Minister re-affirmed that the Government has already committed to paying the cost of the student’s airfare back to Jamaica and will not be requiring re-imbursement.
Minister Johnson Smith also reiterated that the actions of the Russian Federation are in “clear violation of the United Nations Charter, particularly the obligation to respect the sovereign rights and the territorial integrity of States.” She also reminded that Jamaica had not only asserted its national position in this regard, but had joined with CARICOM and the Organization of American States (OAS), in condemnation of Russia’s invasion.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade wishes to remind family members that the Ministry may be contacted by email at: consular@mfaft.gov.jm or consularassist@mfaft.gov.jm, or via WhatsApp at: 876 469-4058, for information.
