Cameroonian Students Protest New French Visa Financial Rules
Dozens of students and parents marched peacefully outside the French Embassy in Yaoundé on Tuesday, protesting new financial requirements imposed on Cameroonian students admitted to private institutions in France. The demonstration comes ahead of the autumn academic intake.
The protest followed a statement from Campus France Cameroon, dated 9 July, informing students that they must now provide proof of full payment of their tuition fees, or demonstrate that they possess the corresponding funds, prior to the issuance of any visa for France. The measure was announced after several students in Cameroon had already submitted their applications.
Yvan Odjo, a candidate for a Master's degree in public law at a private French university, told RFI's correspondent in Yaoundé that he had been rejected because of the new policy. "We were asked for 25,000 euros, including processing fees, a sum that, in reality, a family cannot cover," he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one parent denounced the move as brutal for his son, who is already enrolled at a private university in Lyon. "The cost is around 14,500 euros; we were due to finish making the instalment payments in May, and we were fully prepared, having already paid the 3,500-euro registration fee required by the university," he said.
Organisers of the silent march called for inclusive dialogue over the decision. "We must take the repercussions of this decision into account, even if it means postponing the decision until next year, or simply advocating for fairness for all students," Salomon Ondoua, representative of the collective for access to study projects, told RFI. "It is not right for a Cameroonian student to face greater difficulties studying in France than, for example, an Ivorian student."
The new requirements add to concerns that studying in France is becoming significantly more expensive for students from outside the European Union. While the full scope of the policy's impact remains unclear, the protest highlights growing frustration among Cameroonian students and their families over the financial hurdles to pursuing higher education in France.