For the time being, Bolea said, none of the students have informed the university, through their Erasmus coordinator, that they intend to interrupt their exchange and return to the university in Aragon.
The rector explained that the university remains in “constant contact” with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the Erasmus coordinators who are with the exchange students. “We assess the safety of exchange destinations. When students are sent there, there are no problems or guerrillas, but these can arise even during their stay. Our absolute priority is for them to be informed if the Ministry notifies us of any significant problem,” Bolea stressed.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that they are not in areas where the Ministry tells us there are extraordinary security problems and, secondly, to inform those students, which we do through the coordinators at their destinations, about the conditions in the places where they will be based,” the rector added. Erasmus coordinators explain to students “how they should move around” in the cities they are visiting; however, “we cannot control each student’s behavior from here.”
For the time being, the University of Zaragoza is carrying out an “analysis” of these destinations, and the matter will be discussed with other Spanish universities. The rector also noted that tragedies of this kind have not only occurred in countries of this type, but also in Italy and Sweden, that is, “other European destinations considered safer.”
Rosa Bolea also wished to convey the University of Zaragoza’s “solidarity” to the young student’s family and express its “pain” over the loss of an exchange student.
