Kirsty McHenry | Europe has become unwelcoming for internationals outside of the EU
In the last column of Kirsty McHenry for Folia she looks back on her experience as an international student at the UvA and transitioning into being an ‘expat’. She argues the unjust treatment of international students from outside of Europe. ‘I wonder what ideas were lost with those who were not granted entrance to the UvA classrooms.’
I write this column, my last for Folia, surrounded by moving boxes bursting with the contents of the past four years of my life. The heavy, stifling heat that hung in the air as I packed was much like the one which blanketed the city when I first arrived here from Ireland as an international student. How silent and lonely that summer was as I tried to find my place in a new country to which I had, until then, little connection. By the time term started, the crowded classrooms came as a relief. Not just because they meant the air-conditioning would be set to maximum, but because they offered the opportunity to finally meet all the other students who had crossed oceans and borders and polders to make it here.
Although my experience as an international student did not disappoint, it was also true that the UvA classrooms did not offer quite the diversity of perspectives that the word international might suggest. While the law requires the Netherlands treat other EU citizens, such as myself, just as it would its own students, the same rule does not apply to those from beyond the EU borders. The difference between them and their EU counterparts is measured in tens of thousands of euros worth of tuition fees – much of which go towards funding the university’s most exclusive and prestigious programmes. So, while the door was held open for me, for many prospective students from further afield, it was effectively locked shut long before they could get a foot in.
After graduating last year from international student to ‘expat’, the contrast in my treatment and that of those from outside the EU became all the more evident. While I could remain here after my studies ended without having to lift a finger, other immigrants, who come here out of considerably greater need, are regularly forced to justify their presence. Now, with a new far stricter EU pact on migration and asylum put in place earlier this month, the impenetrability of the EU borders has become a reality for even more people, many of whom have no alternative pathway.
Countries like Ireland, which were once thought of as poor and insignificant, have since been welcomed into the select group of states that get to share in the wealth and opportunity contained in Europe. But, for the nations that today find themselves in a similar position to that which Ireland knew for most of its history, Europe has become increasingly unwelcoming. The borders I could skip over with ease continue to act as ever more rigid barriers to much of the rest of the world. And, whereas I was eventually able to find my footing in Amsterdam and could feel like I belonged, this privilege is not afforded to most.
In coming here, I had the chance to learn much more than I ever could have had I remained in my small, rural Irish town. Beyond simply receiving an education, I had the joy of meeting, studying, and working alongside people whose experiences were completely different from my own. Additionally, I got to engage in Dutch culture and, over time, develop a deeper appreciation for its straight-faced peculiarities. Yet, as I prepare to leave the Netherlands, I am still left wondering what other ideas and perspectives were lost with those who were not granted entrance to the UvA classrooms, or Europe more broadly. Living here has been an opportunity I feel so grateful to have had, and it is one I wish could be extended to all the world.
