The universities of Enschede and Eindhoven are no longer admitting any students from Iran. They say they are forced to do so by the government, according to newspaper Trouw.

The technical universities must state in a declaration that new Iranian students will not in any way whatsoever have access to knowledge on nuclear technology. The universities cannot and do not want to issue this statement because, as they say, their students are entitled to all information available. The third technical university, the TU Delft, does reportedly still admit Iranians.

The three universities were previously warned by the education and foreign ministries to be prudent as far as admitting Iranians is concerned. That insistent request has now been replaced by the declaration, which the universities must send to the Immigration Service (IND) in order to be able to obtain visa for their students, said Trouw.

Enschede's Twente University has informed three Iranian students in writing that they cannot study with it. An internal email by the universiry management to staff also states, according to Trouw, that no more Iranians will be admitted in the future either.

"Students have the right to follow all education that is offered to them in freedom", stated Menno van Duuren of Twente University. "A guarantee that they will not come into contact with nuclear expertise we therefore cannot provide".

A spokesman for TU Eindhoven emphasised: "If someone from Iran wants to do an engineering course, there is no reason whatsoever to refuse them. But the government decides whether someone gets a visa or not." The Socialist Party (SP) has asked the education and foreign ministers for their reaction.


Dutch SP raps snub of Iran students


Press TV - Dutch lawmakers have criticized foreign and education ministers for banning Iranian students from admission to technical universities.

Social Party members of the Dutch Parliament Harry van Bommel and Renske Leijten presented foreign and education ministers with parliamentary questions regarding the refusal of technical universities in the Netherlands to accept Iranians as either students or staff.

The move followed a demand by the national Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) for guarantees that Iranians working or studying in universities would not have access to nuclear technology information.

In the opinion of the SP, this measure will not prove an effective instrument in the struggle to combat the spread of know-how regarding the production of atomic weapons.

"The measure is, moreover, discriminatory, when other foreign students, including those, for example, from other parts of the Middle East, can continue to study at the technical universities as normal," van Bommel said.

The University of Twente has even excluded students who had already been awarded financial support. The same university's board also decided that it would, for the time being, not take on Iranians as employees.

Van Bommel and Leijten want the two ministers to tell them just what was the constitutional basis of the IND's demand, and how the matter is being approached by other EU members.

The MPs have also asked whether it is reasonable for Iranians to be excluded, as they now in practice are ,from any and all programs of study at Dutch Technical Universities