In light of the rapidly escalating conflict across the Western Asia (Middle East) region, LUCU extends its support to all members who may be affected. The ongoing conflict may be impacting you in various ways: work and travel safety, research and teaching collaborations, personal or family connections to the region, or the broader distress that events of this nature can bring.
Travel in Affected Regions
We would like to highlight the University’s guidance on the issue, which was published on internal news and sent by email on Monday 2nd March.
However, we note the list of countries named in this guidance (Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE, including Dubai, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria ) does not include, in addition to the above, all countries now affected: Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey.
If you are in or travelling through any of these affected regions, whether on University business or personal travel, please inform your line manager and/or School Head of Operations and keep yourself as safe as possible.
Insurance
We have confirmed with insurance that colleagues travelling on University business, who commenced travel prior to the conflict’s start and received prior approval for the trip, are covered by University travel insurance until their return to the UK. While the preference is for all travel to be booked through Clarity, any travel booked outside of Clarity would still be covered, provided it was approved in advance.
If you were planning on travelling to or through these regions for University business, you are unlikely to be covered by the University’s insurance and must not travel without seeking further guidance from your Service or School and the University’s insurance team.
Compassionate Leave
The University’s 2-week compassionate leave policy is available for those experiencing stress and trauma connected to a protected characteristic, such as race, which includes ethnicity, nationality, and national origins. In these cases, it is expected that the time off requested will be granted; please approach your line manager in the first instance and contact LUCU if you require support accessing this leave.
Support and Solidarity
LUCU is here to support affected individuals through our casework team. The REACH Network and International Staff Group are additional possible sources of support. For immediate mental health support, the Education Support Partnership runs a 24/7 helpline: 08000 562 561.
The LUCU Committee extends our solidarity and condolences to those who are anxious, suffering or grieving as a result of this devastating war, and expresses our sincere hopes for the conflict to end as soon as possible. We will continue monitoring the situation and are available to meet with members who would like to respond collectively.
In solidarity
LUCU Committee