MyGlasgow News

Dr Hamaseh Tayira, the veterinary student stranded in Costa Rica by President Trump's selective travel ban, has returned safely home to Glasgow. The Principal, Professor Anton Muscatelli, said he'd been 'concerned and appalled' by Hamaseh's plight.

On Sunday Hamaseh said she had been "upset" and "afraid" after being prevented from flying to the US under President Donald Trump's executive order barring people from several Muslim countries.  She holds an Iranian passport and had been due to fly home to Glasgow following a holiday in Costa Rica via New York. But she was told she could not fly to the USA because of the Presidential order. President Trump claimed the measures would "keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US". The 90-day travel ban affects nationals from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

A public appeal, launched after Hamaseh's predicament became public, raised more than double the amount she needed to get home, much of it just a few hours after it was launched. She and her boyfriend had to book £2,600 flights via Madrid and London. 

There have been many expressions of support for the couple, including one from the British Veterinary Association (BVA). Gudrun Ravetz, BVA President, said: “BVA shares the concerns of many of our colleagues and members about the situation Dr Tayari found herself in. My theme for my year as BVA President is the veterinary family and it has never been more important to pull together as one profession.

“The veterinary profession in the UK depends on colleagues from outside of the UK, with over half of the vets registering to practise in 2014/15 being non-UK graduates. The scientific community is international and it is common for scientists to work with colleagues from across the world. Vets work alongside colleagues from around the globe, shoulder-to-shoulder, day-in and day-out. We stand with all our colleagues, wherever they are from in the world or wherever they are. The public support for Dr Tayari, including crowdfunding her travel home, shows that the public is with us in this.“

The Principal's view

by Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal, University of Glasgow

When I became aware on Saturday evening that one of our postgraduate veterinary students, Dr Hamaseh Tayari, was being prevented from travelling back from a holiday in Costa Rica through the United States and on to Glasgow I was both concerned and appalled. Concerned for the safety and wellbeing of a young woman who, through no fault of her own, was stranded in Central America. Appalled because the reason for her predicament was not because she had done something wrong. Not because she was a danger to the security of the United States. But simply because she holds an Iranian passport. Though like me she was brought up in Italy, her family having moved after the Iranian Revolution when she was just two years old.

Colleagues from the university immediately made contact with Hamaseh and we have made clear that we will do all we can to support her when she is back in Scotland, given the additional travelling costs she has incurred to navigate back to Glasgow via Spain. Just as important is to let Hamaseh and the wider world know that our university maintains and cherishes values that we will not compromise upon.

The free movement of people, of ideas, of intellect is surely the very hallmark of civilized society. It is in the University of Glasgow’s DNA, and always has been. 

"Prejudice and hate"

In the 19^th century and against a backdrop of prejudice and hate, the University of Glasgow welcomed African-Americans as students. We educated the first black doctor, James McCune Smith who had been born a slave in New York in 1813. McCune Smith later returned to the United States where he went on to become a successful physician and one of America’s foremost abolitionists and educators.

In the 20th Century those persecuted or discriminated against because of their religion and race were welcomed at the University of Glasgow for the ideas and talent they brought. The contributions they made, collective and individual, have been of immense benefit to the advancement of knowledge and betterment of society.

More recently we have made scholarships available to refugees fleeing from the war in Syria.

Having spoken with Hamaseh I have been hugely impressed at how she is coping with the nightmare situation in which she finds herself. But I have been impressed too by the huge outpouring of support that has been shown across Scotland and the UK, particularly on twitter and through direct emails that have come in to the University from people who are outraged and want to help. All of this, I know, has greatly touched and heartened Hamaseh. I think it also confirms what we all like to believe is true. In this country we value individuals for what they are and the worth they bring, not for the stamp on their passport, the colour of their skin or the religion they practice.

 

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First published: 30 January 2017