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Why Syrian Students Are Being Forced to Commit Fraud

Ahmed, an English literature student, explains why he had to obtain a fake university diploma in order to build a new life.

Written by Wessam Franjieh Published on Read time Approx. 4 minutes

Since the outbreak of the war in Syria, university students have suffered alongside all other members of society. According to a study by UNICEF in December 2013, the level of education in Syria has deteriorated rapidly in the last three years, as schools have been physically destroyed and programming has been drastically disrupted.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian students have had to drop out of school; as a result, a growing number have had to resort to obtaining fake diplomas to rebuild their lives abroad. The production of fake diplomas has become a small industry, perpetuated by expert forgers in Turkey.

Ahmad, 27, was once a student of English literature at Aleppo University. With Aleppo split between two warring sides, he quit college and fled the country. He decided a fake diploma was better than no diploma, and paid a forger to produce one. Ahmad told Syria Deeply about the circumstances that led him to do it, and why he felt he had no other choice.

Syria Deeply: Tell us about your educational career. What made you quit college?

Ahmad: I finished high school in 2006, then I started studying at Aleppo University in the faculty of literature. I had to work to continue studying, due to my difficult financial circumstances. When the revolution started in 2011 I was in the first semester of my last year. The city was initially at peace and far from the struggle, but this did not last long.

I used to commute to the university on exam days, because my job was in Damascus. The last time I went to Aleppo was in the evening. The city was quiet and I stayed in a hotel as usual. In the morning the streets were almost all empty of people and I couldn’t go to my university. I barely managed to get a taxi, which I had to pay a lot of money, to take me to Aleppo airport so I could go back to Damascus.

After that I never returned to Aleppo, and my military service postponement was almost over; I had only three months left. I stayed in Damascus to work, my education stopped, and I couldn’t graduate after all those years of studying.

Syria Deeply: Why didn’t you transfer your registration papers to Damascus University?

Ahmad: Days passed as I was waiting for things to get better in Aleppo so I could go back. My postponement was over, so I asked my friends in Aleppo to bring me a paper to give to the recruitment department to again postpone my service. But the recruitment department demanded that I personally come get the paper, and that was impossible for me. My friend tried repeatedly to bribe him, but it was in vain. I had to flee to Lebanon to avoid military service.

Syria Deeply: So once you reached Beirut, why didn’t you continue your education in one of Lebanon’s universities?

Ahmad: I couldn’t for two reasons: the first is that I don’t have any of my college papers as they’re in the custody of Aleppo University. The second reason is that my humble salary can’t cover any university tuition.

Syria Deeply: So what did you do?

Ahmad: Friends here talked about obtaining fake university certificates. I looked for a forger but one of them asked for $1500 to get me a certificate and I couldn’t afford that. I kept looking and finally I found one who asked for almost $500. I negotiated with him until he agreed to take $275 and we agreed that the certificate would be ready in a week.

Syria Deeply:Did he ask for a down payment before he started to make the certificate for you?

Ahmad: Yes, he insisted on that, but I refused because he’s in Turkey and I’m in Lebanon, so there isn’t any guarantee that he’ll keep his promise, not to mention that I feared this certificate would be merely a photoshopped photocopy. When he realized how determined I was, he agreed to do it without a down payment.

Syria Deeply: How did you agree to pay him and how did he agree to send you the certificate?

Ahmad: We agreed that he will send me pictures of the certificate from all sides so I can check it. After that I will send him the money through a money transfer office. I will take a picture of the transfer receipt and I will send it to him to check, and then he will send me the certificate by mail.

Syria Deeply: So how did it turn out?

Ahmad: After a week he called me and told me that it was ready. He photographed it and sent it to me, and I checked it thoroughly and it seemed fine to me. I was pleased with it, so the next day I sent him the money and he in turn sent me the certificate. Everything happened as planned; it was a risk but it turned out to be successful.

Syria Deeply: What about the quality of the paper? And did the stamps look authentic?

Ahmad: It’s made with the original paper used in Syria for official certificates, and the stamps were real. It has the stamps of Aleppo University and the Syrian Foreign Affairs Ministry, and everything is as it’s supposed to be.

Syria Deeply: But certificates usually have registration and file numbers to be checked at the university itself. Can you use it inside Syria or even authenticate it in any Syrian embassy?

Ahmad: No, I can’t use it at all inside Syria, and I can’t authenticate it in any Syrian embassy. They would definitely know it’s fake, because the registration and the file numbers aren’t real.

But I don’t care, because the reason I bought this certificate is to use it to get a decent job, and I can’t go back to Syria anyway.

Syria Deeply: What was the main reason for obtaining a fake certificate? And did you achieve that goal?

The main reason as I said is to get a decent job; every time I apply for a job they ask for a university certificate, and this stood between me and any job opportunity. Until now I haven’t achieved this goal but hopefully I will in the coming days.

Photo Courtesy of AP Images

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