University of Tartu sued for ethnic discrimination

Eesti Päevaleht

Student sued the University of Tartu for ethnic discrimination
Riin Aljas
Riin Aljas
15.12.2015 00:10

According to Jaanus Müür, Chairman of the Estonian Federation of Student Unions, both xenophobia and finding job placements are issues for international students. "It is possible an exchange student was not offered a job placement because he is from a particular country that is [often considered pariah on the international arena] (some text is missing here). Hendrik Osula
The university discussed the student's grades instead of the possible discrimination case. Another IT student intends to sue as well. According to the Estonian Federation of Student Unions, there are serious issues in the support system for international students.


The University of Tartu celebrated its 96th anniversary two weeks ago. The Rector of the University, Volli Kalm, dedicated his anniversary speech to the importance of exchange students and called for people to treat them with respect and to offer them assistance if needed.

Meanwhile an exchange student has sued the university and another is currently writing a complaint to the Ministry of Education and Science. Both students accuse the university of unwillingness and inability to deal with complaints of discrimination and to offer assistance to the exchange students. What makes the story even more surprising is that they are IT students, whom both the state and universities are desperately trying to attract to Estonia.

The supervisor and both doctoral students are Iranian. Sahakyan is Armenian.
Armen Sahakyan, an Armenian, applied for a doctorate position at the University of Tartu Institute of Technology in 2014. Sahakyan was chosen from among four students and in the autumn he began his studies under the supervision of Professor Gholamreza Anbarjafari. His area of studies was robot-human interaction. The research topic of Sahakyan and Anbarjafari is so fascinating, it might need its own story.

In the beginning the studies went well and Sahakyan was glad with the university he had chosen. Then he started feeling that Anbarjafari behaves differently towards him than towards the two other doctoral students he supervised. He was not instructed enough, he was unjustifiedly excluded from study groups and at the same time given tasks that were beyond Sahakyan's skillset. Sahakyan believes the reason for that might be that both his supervisor and the other doctoral students are Iranians, whereas he is Armenian.

Supervisor: his expertise is not on the level expected in Estonia and he should complete an Estonian Master's course first.
Anbarjafari does not agree: according to him, Sahakyan's skillset and expertise were simply not on the level expected in Estonia and by that time it had become clear that the doctoral student should first complete an Estonian Master's course. By the end of December the relations between two men were strained enough for Anbarjafari to suggest Sahakyan quit his studies and write a statement declaring familial issues as his cause for departure. "What familial issues? I did not want to leave Tartu!" Sahakyan said, according to Merle Albrant, the Human Rights Centre lawyer representing him. The Human Rights Centre is representing Sahakyan thanks to their strategic litigation project, which applies to cases of societal importance that might create precedents for the future.

When Sahakyan turned to his department and the dean's office with his problems, the University of Tartu cited his incompetence as the cause. Sahakyan and Albrant are not satisfied with these reasons. While the young man might not have had exemplary grades, he fulfilled all requirements of the programme. "If he was chosen from among four candidates and was deemed competent based on his test results, how did he then become incompetent in a couple of months?" Albrant asked. They now suspect ethnic discrimination instead. "Discrimination means that one person is treated differently from other people in the same situation. And this is exactly what happened." Albrant explained. They cite the supervisor's disparaging attitude as the cause for their suit, not to mention that according to Sahakyan, Anbarjafari privately told him that a person from Iran had already been chosen as Sahakyan's replacement. However, the university claims that no new student had been selected.

A separate exam was held
After that, Sahakyan complained to the university about discrimination. Even though the counsellor dealing with exchange students tried to reach a compromise between two parties, the university did not discuss the root of the complaint. Sahakyan's academic achievements were discussed instead. The matter ended with another examination being held in March to judge Sahakyan's skills. The student did not attend it. "By that time his access to his school computer, study materials and workplace had been revoked, he no longer had a supervisor. He would not have been able to study for the exam even if he wanted to, so he decided to withdraw. By now the student has been expelled" Albrant said.

The University of Tartu does not admit to discrimination - this is the official position of both the academic staff and the university itself.
The examination seems suspicious to both the lawyer and Sahakyan, because firstly, it was held solely for Sahakyan and secondly, emergency examinations are not usually held for doctoral students in the middle of the academic year. "It is not about whether his results proved competency or not. It is about him being treated differently and the university refusing to deal with the issue after receiving a complaint. This case is about finding out if discrimination occurred and if the university did all it could to prevent it. We think it did not." Albrant said.

Therefore Sahakyan, currently enrolled in a Master's course in Tallinn, decided to sue the University of Tartu, demanding they admit to discrimination and pay him €7000 as compensation. The first proceeding is held on 25 January.

The University of Tartu does not admit to discrimination - this is the official position of both the academic staff and the university itself. Therefore there is no room for compromise, as according to the university, the accusations only began after the student's expertise and skillset were deemed insufficient for doctorate studies. "[Sahakyan] was admitted based on the documentation he submitted. Quite soon it appeared that the doctoral student's expertise and skillset did not allow him to progress in his studies. His supervisors suggested he continue his studies in a Master's programme. This was followed with accusations of discrimination." Professor Peeter Burk, Dean of Science and Technology at the University of Tartu, said in the university's reply. Anbarjafari did not wish to comment.

A dangerous tendency
Burk admitted that while the examination was held in an extraordinary manner, it was necessary for the university to independently evaluate the student's competence and disprove the accusations. The university did however not get any results, as Sahakyan decided to not attend the exam. Neither has he submitted the documents necessary for his accreditation.

Albrant believes that both the cases of Sahakyan and the other student who has filed a complaint (see the next story) show that the university lacks the skill, motivation and willingness to deal with complaints of discrimination. According to the experts at the Human Rights Centre, this is a particularly dangerous tendency, because public and educational institutions should be positive role models. Not to mention the irony in the importance of attracting exchange students to Estonia.

The universities are doing a good job to get the international students here, but the support systems are not keeping up.
"It is the duty of employers and educational institutions to protect people from discrimination and inform them on equal treatment. Now there is a lack of justice awareness at most of the institutions. Organisations have no understanding of whether and how they should react to discrimination." Albrant explained. When asked if there will be any trainings on that topic soon, Albrant admitted that equal treatment is not directly handled on the national level, although there are some good examples, such as the Equal Treatment Commissioner spreading awareness, and an increasing amount of public institutions and companies signing the Diversity Agreement.

According to Jaanus Müür, Chairman of the Estonian Federation of Student Unions, the problem is that while the institutions of higher education are doing a good job getting international students to study here, the support systems such as career and psychological counselling are not keeping up. "They are often young people from a completely different culture. They need assistance in adapting to the local lifestyle as well as more academic supervision." Müür explained.

Access to information should also be improved, as the international students often do not know which department to turn to for assistance. "Dealing with international students cannot be just arranging mixers or informing them about where to get an ID card, why should they wear a reflector, or how to get to the centre by bus." he said.

The issue with international students is wider than just one court case
Sahakyan is not the only international student having it in for the University of Tartu. Juan (name changed - Ed.), a student from Latin America, has also turned to the Human Rights Centre. Even though Juan completed his Master's studies in Software Engineering at the University of Tartu in August and is now working for an IT company in Tallinn, he is still in the process of filing a formal complaint against the university. Juan's issue is that while his Master's studies included a mandatory internship, he was not able to find a work placement in Tartu. In addition to Juan, other exchange students attending the same course had troubles finding a work placement as well, one of them being the best student attending the course.

Juan is bothered the most by the university not doing enough about the issue. "The university admitted that finding a work placement is a problematic issue, but since the international students do not wish to stay in Estonia, the employers have a different attitude towards them as towards Estonian students. Finally, an employee of the institute admitted that there is not enough work for everyone. However, that is unacceptable, because if a course includes a mandatory internship, the university needs to guarantee it for all students or at least help them get it." Juan complained. Finally, a semester later, Juan found a work placement in Italy.

According to Ülle Tensing, the Head Specialist of International Studies at the University of Tartu, it is complicated to find work placements for international students because the employers are looking for long term employees. Also there are more IT students needing an internship each year. When asked if the university could have helped Juan more, Tensing replied that the student was introduced to an employer, who was however not pleased with Juan's work efficiency. "These cases are rare, but it is not in the university's power to avoid them completely. The university cannot force a company to keep a student who does not suit them." Tensing added that Juan was offered an internship at the university and received equal treatment to any other Estonian student.

Juan is not satisfied with that explanation. According to him the university should be honest about internship opportunities or deal with problems as they occur. He claims the latter is especially needed. This is why he is filing a complaint to the Ministry of Education, hoping to make things better for exchange students. "Both Estonia and the European Commission invest large amounts in increasing the amount of exchange students at universities. Yet when they have arrived, there are many problems that cancel out both the campaigning and the sums invested." said Juan.