Security issues force UC to suspend India EAP
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 5, 2002 9:00 p.m.
By Peijean Tsai
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]
Due to escalated hostilities between India and Pakistan, the UC
suspended its India Education Abroad program Wednesday.
On Monday, the program had been labeled “on hold”
with a chance of being reinstated if there were “adequate
improvements in security,” said UC spokesperson Hanan
Eisenman. Two days later, it was completely suspended.
The decision to consider suspending the program came as a
response to the increased danger to student safety because of the
heightened threat of war ““ possibly nuclear war ““
between India and Pakistan, a situation the UC has been monitoring
with the help of the U.S. Department of State.
Because of the growing military danger, the department recently
issued two travel warnings for Americans overseas.
Whereas a May 31 travel warning led to the UC’s initial
decision to put the program “on hold,” a stronger
warning on Wednesday ““ which included rhetoric like,
“Tensions have risen to serious levels and the risk of
intensified military hostilities between India and Pakistan cannot
be ruled out” ““Â led to the UC’s decision to
suspend the program, said Eisenman.
“Student safety is a top priority,” he
continued.
Since the program takes place only in the fall semester, there
are currently no UC students in India. Fifteen UC students,
however, were recently informed that they would no longer be able
to travel to India for the Fall 2002 semester because of the
program’s suspension, said Eisenman.
Two of the 15 students are UCLA students, said Emily Mohajeri
Norris, the administrative director for the UCLA EAP.
“The university is making the best decision possible to
keep from placing students in volatile parts of the world,”
she said.
Students who were planning on studying in India will now be
offered alternative programs of study in other countries, said
Eisenman.
Though the program has been suspended for the fall, the UC plans
to keep the infrastructure of its sites at Delhi and Hyderabad in
tact so that students can eventually return to the program in the
future, said Eisenman.
In April, the UC made a similar decision in response to overseas
conflicts when it suspended its Israel EAP due to the intensified
military environment in the country.
