Pakistani students in UK raise mental health concerns

LONDON: Pakistani students in different universities across the UK have raised concerns over the impact Covid-19 has had on their mental health.

In an online conference called ‘solidarity in Covid-19’ which was organised by United South Asia, it was observed that the pandemic was severely impacting students’ mental wellbeing.

The Zoom conference was chaired by Hassan Rauf Awan and deputy chair Syed Ali Mustafa. Writers Nimra Naeem and Heena Shaikh also participated in the conference to talk about the issue.

Representatives from the London School of Economics, Brunel University, Oxford University, Southampton University, Cambridge University, Essex University, University of Hertfordshire, Warwick University, Birmingham City University, University of Liverpool and London South Bank University participated in the meeting.

Awan told the participants that mental health issues were highly rising among students in the pandemic. He said mental health cases were sharply increasing all over the world and the suicide of a talented Bollywood actor recently showed how mental health issues should be taken seriously, talked about openly to help those who were suffering and not brush the issues under the carpet. He said people of all ages and backgrounds had felt suffocated, marginalised and isolated from human interaction and that had affected the mental health very badly.

Awan added the uncertainty would remain till there was a permanent solution to Covid-19. Vice-chair Syed Ali Mustafa encouraged students to think about how people could be together in the pandemic and express unity.

The President of Liverpool University Paksoc, Haris Alam, said: “Everyone was busy in their lives, but now the outbreak of pandemic had raised awareness of different matters. Supporting others in these hard times is the need of today.”

Oxford University’s Maah Noor Ali said the changes were hard to adapt with and everyone was trying to adjust and make their way through the extraordinary times. University of Hertfordshire’s Farhan Awan raised concerns over the troubles many students faced with accommodation and food as they had lost employment opportunities. He said his university had now introduced hardship fund for students who lost jobs and were facing financial hardships.

On the contrary London School of Economics student, Behram Khan told the conference that international students were not only facing issues over their visa but also finding it hard to find internships and placements.

Birmingham City University’s Jaspreet Singh said: “Due to the pandemic we have had more time to spend with families and we should stop political activities and stay together.”

He further added the Sikh community in Birmingham was helping people get over the pandemic by donating money to look after communities in need.