A trip back to Kinshasa this summer was supposed to be a chance for Jonathan Likongo to see his family after two years of living and studying in Montreal.
Instead, the Université de Montréal student decided to stay in Canada, worried that leaving could prevent him from returning.
“I was supposed to leave, but out of an abundance of caution and prudence, I didn’t,” Likongo said.
It proved to be the right move.
In May, Canada introduced temporary measures restricting entry for certain foreign nationals from multiple countries in central Africa, citing the risk posed by the Ebola outbreak. In July, it went a step further, saying it would deny entry to foreign nationals who had been to the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) within the past 21 days.
The measures are currently set to remain in place until Aug. 29.
Likongo, a member of the Congolese Students’ Association at Université de Montréal, says the timing has been difficult for students who had planned to travel during the summer break.
“The illness arrived right in the middle of the holiday period,” he said. “Some people didn’t even know there would be all these restrictions.”
Universities across Quebec say hundreds of students could be affected by the measures, including people already enrolled in programs and students expected to begin their studies this fall.
Université de Montréal says 170 students from the D.R.C. or Sudan have been admitted for the fall, while another 182 people from those countries were already enrolled in programs during the winter or summer.
Université Laval says it has 240 students from the D.R.C., South Sudan and Uganda, including 72 newly admitted students and 168 continuing students. Université du Québec à Montréal says approximately 100 students are affected.
Canada to temporarily bar entry by foreign nationals recently in Congo due to Ebola risk
The universities say they are working with students to prepare for different scenarios.
At Université de Montréal, undergraduate students have until Aug. 29 to change their registration, while graduate students can begin their program later, within one year.
Université Laval says students can have their situations assessed individually, with options including deferring admission, starting classes remotely or arriving after the start of the semester.
Université du Québec à Montréal says it is also assessing solutions on a case-by-case basis.
For students still stuck outside Canada, the biggest question is: what happens after Aug. 29?
In a statement to CBC, Health Canada says the government is monitoring the Ebola outbreak closely and is continually reviewing the measures alongside the latest evidence with international partners. It says it will determine its next steps before the existing measures are potentially set to expire.
For Likongo, the uncertainty meant missing an important chance to see his family.
“My family was devastated — both my mother and my father — because we were supposed to see each other this summer in Kinshasa,” he said.
He says he hopes the situation improves soon.
“We hope everything will be resolved in the coming days, and we really hope this disease will end so that we can see our families again.”
