18/03/2025
“My name is Ella, born in February 2002 in Ivory Coast. In October 2020, I left my native country with my head full of dreams to study optometry in Belgium. After two years of studying, I felt the need to change course, finding the training too commercially oriented and lacking that precious caregiver-patient relationship that was so dear to my heart. That’s when I discovered medical imaging training.
Despite my growing interest in this discipline, I had to wait until my third year of optometry to enrol in medical imaging, after having acquired 123 credits out of 180. In 2023-2024, I began my medical imaging studies at the same institution, having finally found my calling. However, the Immigration Office refused to renew my student visa.
Faced with this situation, I sought the help of a lawyer who took the necessary steps, including various appeals. During this period of litigation, I was enrolled for 60 credits, which I successfully completed. I then began my second year in medical imaging, validating all my January exams in preparation for internships in mid-March 2025.
My partner and I had planned to live together legally. We went to the municipality on January 23 to register together in his new apartment. On Saturday January 25, at around 4pm, while I was alone in the apartment, two policewomen intervened. They seized my passport and asked me to follow them to the police station. Despite my explanations about the appeals in progress, they said they had to check my situation with the Immigration Office before they could release me.
Handcuffed and taken to the station, I was questioned and then placed in a cell. At around 11pm, a police officer informed me that I was to be repatriated to Ivory Coast. On January 26, I was transferred to the Bruges detention center. Today, March 6, 2025, I’m still being held. I have lost more than a month of classes and exams.
My lawyer is doing everything he can to get me out of this situation, but it’s not simple. I’m trying to keep my spirits up for myself and my family, but it’s not easy. My school year is in jeopardy, and my future looks even more uncertain. I felt the need to share my story and my journey, in the hope of getting help, but also to inform other people in similar situations.
You are not alone, and I will continue to fight this battle until I am released, for myself and for other students who may find themselves in the same situation.
Ella’s case is representative of a situation that affects many people. Admission requirements for students from countries outside the European Union have been restricted considerably in recent years. In order to study in Belgium, a student must either have a substantial sum of money in a bank account, or declare a guarantor. In 2020, guarantors had to have an income of around 1,900 euros. Since January 1, 2023, the minimum amount has risen to 2,797 euros net per month, an income that a large proportion of the population does not have. This new measure works retroactively: students who arrived in Belgium under the old regulations are affected by the changes, and risk having to interrupt their studies during the course of the year.
These recent measures have forced hundreds of students in Belgium into extremely precarious situations.
A collective was formed to denounce these new measures and to weave solidarity networks between affected students, called the “PLADE” (Plateforme de Lutte pour l’Amélioration des Droits des Étudiants Étrangers*).
We stand in solidarity with Ella , with all foreign students, and with all migrants confronted to these increasingly restrictive and discriminatory policies.
A petition has been set up to support Ella’s fight for her release
Sign the petition for Ella’s release : https://www.mesopinions.com/petition/justice/liberez-ayekou-monnet-ella-marie/240279
