Over 10 months Unpaid Stipends…
SIERRA LEONE STUDENTS IN RUSSIA CRY OUT
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
Sierra Leoneans studying in the Russian Federation have expressed a strong emotion over the “severe hardship” they are facing as students in that country.
In a press release dated the 18 August, 2025, the National Union of Sierra Leone Students in the Russian Federation (NUSS-RF) says it has exhausted all diplomatic avenues, dialoguing to ensure the payment of stipends to students for the academic period covering 1st September, 2024 — June, 2025, but to no avail.
Even as the new academic year commences in less than two weeks, the stipends remain unpaid. This delayed payment has plunged the students into deep financial quagmire—unable to pay for essential needs such as medical insurance, hostel fees, visa renewals, food and utilities.
The financial crisis faced by the students is exacerbated by the several sanctions on Russia, as they can in no way receive support from their families and other relations back home.
“We are facing severe hardship here due to our inability to meet our daily and annual obligations,” the students cry out.
Demanding immediate payment of the outstanding stipends for the 2024/2025 academic session, the students also crave the Sierra Leone Government’s urgent intervention to ensure the stipends for the 2025/2026 Academic Year are disbursed before the new session begins, and to permanently address the glitches leading to delayed payment of stipends.
Meanwhile, NUSS-RF is calling on civil society groups, humanitarian organizations and the media to amplify their concerns, as well as advocate for their rights to ensure the “humanitarian crisis” facing them is reversed.
Responding to the concerns of the students, the Sierra Leone Embassy in Moscow encourages them to exercise restraints, as it continues engagement with the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, and the Ministry of Finance in Freetown.
In a release on 19 August, 2025, the Embassy says the students are aware of engagements between the Embassy and the relevant authorities back home, and registers regret that irrespective of the frantic efforts it is making, the students’ union has gone public with the matter.
Acknowledging the importance of paying stipends, the Embassy calls on the students to exercise patience and continue to prioritise dialogue and quiet diplomacy as the primary means of communication.
The Embassy reaffirms its support for Sierra Leonean students in Russia, as their education and contributions remain integral to the nation’s development, and vows to continue to keep the students informed of any new developments regarding payment of stipends.
“We will provide prompt updates through official channels and remain receptive to enquiries or concerns from students and their representatives,” the Embassy reaffirms, and assured of its continued support for all Sierra Leonean students in the Russian Federation.