Ugandan Students Return from Iran

No fewer than 43 Ugandan students who were studying in Iran before the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on the country have returned home, bearing trauma from the series of events that have unfolded since Saturday.

29-year-old Sharon Twiine, who had been studying international relations at Ahlul Bayt International University in Tehran when the war broke out, described war as traumatising.

“I am lost for words. “It was scary, traumatising, and I wouldn’t wish for anyone to experience. I love to study, I love to practice what I will learn from Iran, but I think I will have to get therapy first,” Twiine told AFP.

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Another student, Oscar Nyegyema, said a site near their university was hit by an air strike.

Ugandan Students Return from Iran Traumatised (News Central TV)
                                                             Israel strikes at Tehran and Beirut targets. Credit: Al Jazeera

“We could hear the ground trembling; we could hear the ground shake. We were all scared, we were all feeling devastated, we really did not know whether we could make it out,” he said.

Ngeyema added that he would return to finish his programme in Iran as soon as possible.

AFP reported that some Ugandan students rejected their government’s offer to return and chose to stay despite the war.

“The truth is for these students, they believe that if they return home, the two years spent in their four-year degree study may go to waste because they may not be able to afford the ticket back to the university,” said Aloisius Ssegawa, another of the students who returned on Thursday.

 

Author

  • Olayide Oluwafunmilayo Soaga is a Nigerian journalist with four years of professional experience. She reports on health, gender, education and development, with a focus on impact-driven storytelling.

    She was runner-up for the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) Best Solutions Journalism Award in West Africa in 2024 and a finalist for the 2025 West Africa Media Excellence Awards.

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