WHY SO MANY LEBANESE AT KAUNAS MEDICAL SCHOOL?

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000036 SIPDIS FRANKFURT FOR RCO KBROUGHAM E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020 TAGS: CVIS KFRD LH SUBJECT: WHY SO MANY LEBANESE AT KAUNAS MEDICAL SCHOOL? Classified By: DCM Damian R. Leader for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Embassy officers traveled to Kaunas January 12 to meet with Kaunas University of Medicine officials and discuss their international student program, specifically its large number of Lebanese students. This fact finding trip was done after eight Lebanese medical students from this university applied for their first U.S. visa in a one month period late in 2009, for short term travel over the 2009-10 holiday season. ConOff sent Visa Condor cables with passport, family, past travel, and purpose of travel information to the Department for reasons 7E -- Lebanese nationals applying for the first time for a U.S. visa outside their country of origin. Embassy has so far received a "no objection" response for seven of the eight applicants, and issued to those seven. As of January 21, none of the seven issued visas have been used. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Neringa Pauziene, Vice Dean of the International Relations and Study Center at Kaunas University of Medicine, described the existence of a robust international student population, with 334 students representing 35 countries starting the 2009-10 academic year. The two largest groups entering this year are from Israel (107 students) and Lebanon (62). She said that students from Lebanon started coming to the snowy, off-the-beaten-path city of Kaunas to study medicine as far back as 1990, when a Minister of Education looked to European universities, and specifically Kaunas University of Medicine, as a more stable and safe alternative to the Beirut medical schools at that time. The school currently has 270 Lebanese students enrolled. 3, (C) According to Pauziene, the relatively large number of Lebanese at Kaunas University is the result of word of mouth or family tradition over the previous 15-20 years. Pauziene said many of the current students are relatives or close acquaintances of previous Lebanese medical students who attended Kaunas. She also noted that while the university does recruit in Lebanon, mainly through alumni, the numbers of Lebanese are actually declining, from 74 starting the academic year 2006-7 to only 62 this year. ¶4. (C) Fluency in Lithuanian is not required. There exist three entry tracks to the six year course of study - two offer instruction in Lithuanian, a third in English. Pauziene said most Lebanese opt for the third track however they do take the Lithuanian language classes offered on the side. This is also recommended by the university for livability reasons. Conversely, she added, Israeli students typically do not bother taking Lithuanian language instruction, instead they attempt to rely on Russian, which many of them speak as the children or grandchildren of immigrants from former Soviet Union countries. ¶5. (C) Both Pauziene and Kristina Kavaliauskaite, the Coordinator at the International Relations Center, described the Lebanese student population as overwhelmingly male, and well integrated with the student body as a whole. Unlike other international students, they are happy to live in university dormitories; most learn and speak Lithuanian, and many have married Lithuanian women. (Note -- two of the eight visa applicants mentioned in paragraph 1 have Lithuanian wives). According to Pauziene, Lebanese students typically use family money to pay for education, unlike other European students who receive grants or loans from their respective governments. ¶6. (C) Comment: Four things about the eight Lebanese medical student applicants raised concerns: they all came to apply within one month of each other; they all wanted to travel to the U.S. within weeks or even days of potentially getting a visa; they all came from a country which requires a Visa Condor for first time applicants outside the country of origin; and lastly, Embassy Vilnius just does not get many Lebanese applicants. Only 56 have applied for visas over the previous ten years, with roughly half issued. ¶7. (SBU) A validation study of the years 2007-8 revealed that 11 Lebanese nationals applied for visas at U.S. Embassy Vilnius. Ten were issued, one was refused. All ten applicants with visas used them and returned to Lithuania in a timely manner. None of the seven Lebanese issued visas in late 2009 has used his visa for travel to the U.S. Information gained from this fact finding trip does not give Embassy Vilnius a complete picture of Lebanese life in Lithuania, however it does give ConOffs a greater knowledge base with which to use in adjudicating Lebanese student visa applicants who live in this country. DERSE