Mumbai: Students studying and living in the US, the UK, Canada and parts of Europe are facing a tough time and cannot pay their rent for accommodation due to the pandemic.
Some say they have lost part-time jobs due to the lockdown, and are unable to pay monthly rent, while others ha ve moved out to live with relatives but still have to pay rent for empty flats.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, major universities such as Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, King’s College, Milan, Glasgow, Warsaw and Melbourne closed down their campuses and asked students to vacate campus accommodation or live with relatives or friends if possible.
Some international students stayed back on campus as they had nowhere to go and some are staying at kin. But due to the lockdown, students have lost jobs and cannot afford rent. Jassi Kiran, a student in London, said, “I was working in a cafe, but I lost my job. I don’t have any source of income.
I have to pay a monthly rent of £350 (Rs33,000). How am I supposed to pay this high sum?” Some students in the US and the UK revealed they are not living in their rental flats but have to cough up the rent. Tanishka Shetty, a student in Texas, said, “My monthly rent is almost $250 (Rs19,000) as I live outside campus.
I moved to live with my relatives, but I have received my monthly rental bill. Why should I pay for an empty flat which I am not using?” Danish Qazi, a student in Ontario, Canada, said, “I lost my job in an MNC. I applied for a content writing freelance job, income is low.
My rent is high, we have tuition fee and other expenses. There’s no student funding so we don’t know what to do.” Provide financial aid to international students to tide over the crisis, appealed the students. Helena Paula, a student in Milan, Italy, said, “We need financial aid during this time of crisis.
Tenants should not charge us monthly rent or allow us extra time to pay rent.” Interestingly, some universities abroad have started Covid19 Emergency Support Fund and Covid-19 Student Support Grants to help int’l students during the crisis.
