TRNC Minister meets with representative of International Student Union, "VOIS Cyprus", discussed issues faced by international students in the country

The TRNC Minister of Labor and Social Security, Zeki Çeler on Wednesday met with representatives of the International Student Union, "VOIS Cyprus" to discuss issues faced by international students in the country.

In the meeting between the Minister and the student representatives, issues bothering on students work permits, and working conditions among other issues were discussed.

The representatives of the Union on behalf of all international students told the Minister that students need help to better explain the laws of the country and also want their voices to be heard by authorities.

The representatives, who stated that they are ready to partner with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to improve student working conditions, said they are always open to dialogue with the Ministry in resolving problems faced by students.

Responding to the request, the Minister said in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, the ministry will do something to improve the working condition of students in the country.

The Minister stated that, in the coming days, an informative brochure and a public spot on jobs for foreign nationals will be prepared by the Ministry adding that foreign students who came to the TRNC to study should take with them beautiful memories when leaving the country.

In a post about the meeting on it's Facebook page, VOIS Cyprus, wrote;

We are very committed in our aim to achieve better conditions for international students, to enlighten and bridge the gap between the students and the locals, to ensure better understanding of the laws on our part as students, and that our voices are heard by necessary authorities.

More importantly, we are committed to our pacific approach to the problems faced by international students, and remind you that the VOIS Cyprus platform is always open to all and sundry who believe in the need for dialogue to share your experiences, whether positive or unpleasant. As we implore international students to abide by stipulated laws of the state, we also seek to see that these laws are respected by locals too.

Consequently, we are working on a number of tentative proposals, along with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which are geared towards bettering the working conditions of International students, in the future. The details of these round table discussions as well as the progress we make will be made available to the public in the coming weeks. We also urge international students who are facing problems or who have questions regarding working conditions, to contact VOIS Cyprus directly to report their worries. These inquiries and problems will be noted and tabled during our next meeting with the Ministry of Labour and other stakeholders.

Morally, we are also committed to raising awareness about any forms of discrimination, which require an orientation of all of us (foreign or local), and hence a constant reminder of our common humanity, as a society of people. We hope you can join us and stand with us, as we tell our stories, and work together for positive changes within our society. We will continue to share our progress and updates with you, and hope we can help to bring every international student closer to the civic society in TRNC.

- VOIS Cyprus

(Voices of International Students in Cyprus)