Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) - an exchange program run by the US State Department , representing high school students (aged 15-17) from the countries of the former Soviet Union, the opportunity to spend a year in the US for free, living in an American family and attending an American school. The program is fully funded by the US government, including travel, allowance and medical insurance. Since the inception of the program, more than 23,000 high school students from 12 countries, including 8,000 Russians, have participated in it [1] .
Content
History
The program was created in 1992 after George Bush Sr. signed the Freedom Support Act to ensure peace and understanding between the United States and the countries of the former Soviet Union and to provide young people with the opportunity to “get to know the people and culture of the United States and to teach Americans better people and the culture of their home country " [1] [2] [3] .
Among graduates of the program are well-known journalists Elena Milashina and Margarita Simonyan [2] .
Scandal and program closure in Russia
In October 2014, Russia for two years completely suspended participation in the program, but later sources of the Kommersant newspaper in the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the program was completely terminated [4] . More than 3,000 Russian schoolchildren signed an online petition to the Russian government demanding the resumption of participation in the program [5] [6] .
The reason for the termination of cooperation with the United States, the Children's Rights Commissioner under the President of Russia, Pavel Astakhov, called the case of a non-return from the United States of a 17-year-old boy [5] who went to study in Michigan as part of an exchange. In the spring after the end of the program, the teenager refused to return to his homeland, made a coming out , confessing his homosexuality, and asked for emancipation (early legal recognition of adulthood ), which gives him the right to choose his place of residence and political asylum in the United States, fearing for his safety RF because of its orientation [5] .
From the moment the petition is filed, the student is under the tutelage of the US government, with the defense of the head of the Michigan Center for the Protection of the Rights of Immigrants Susan Reed. The student’s mother came to the United States to meet with her son, according to Lisa Choat, vice president of the American Councils for International Education (a nonprofit organization that is responsible for conducting the FLEX program), this trip was paid for by her organization, according to Russian diplomats, the Russian Federation [5] ).
According to Astakhov, a teenager was given custody by a homosexual couple, whom he met during his stay in the United States, but the US side refuted allegations of illegal adoption of a teenager [7] [8] [4] .
According to the journalist Masha Gessen , this incident was covered in the Russian media with significant distortions, which were also adopted by the foreign press. According to her, the teenager realized his homosexuality in his homeland, where he was subjected to harassment and persecution. While in the US, he informed the guest family in which he lived about his plans for non-return. Not finding support from them, the teenager left the guest family and turned for help to the local LGBT organization, through which he met the gay couple who had supported him. However, after learning that the boy was in the United States against the wishes of his mother, the men also refused to support him, after which the fugitive appealed to the Michigan State Center for the Protection of the Rights of Immigrants [9] [10] [11] .
On October 8, 2014, the deputy chairman of the Russian government, Olga Golodets, announced the upcoming proceedings on the remaining student in the US [12] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Schoolchildren of Russia shut down America . Voice of America (October 1, 2014). The appeal date is October 4, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 VOA: Russian authorities “shut down” America for schoolchildren . RT.com (October 2, 2014). The appeal date is October 4, 2014.
- ↑ The Russian Federation has curtailed the educational program because of a schoolboy who did not return from the US Market Leader (October 1, 2014). The appeal date is October 4, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 Ekaterina Golovina. The FLEX exchange program will close forever " Slon.ru ", 02.10.2014
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Alexander Chernykh, Kirill Belyaninov. A schoolboy asked to stay after lessons The newspaper “Kommersant” No. 181 dated 10/07/2014, p. 6
- ↑ Russian schoolchildren are asking to resume the program of study in the United States . Deutsche Welle (October 2, 2014). The appeal date is October 4, 2014.
- ↑ Astakhov: FLEX graduate in the United States adopted a gay couple . BBC Russian (October 2, 2014). The appeal date is October 4, 2014.
- ↑ Russia has completely abandoned the FLEX program because of school defaulters . Rosbalt (October 2, 2014). The appeal date is October 4, 2014.
- ↑ Hesse: The story of a boy adopted by gays in the USA was distorted in Russia . RT (October 15, 2014). The appeal date is October 24, 2014.
- ↑ Masha Gessen. Who Controls a Gay Russian Teen-ager's Story? (eng.) . New Yorker (13 October 2014). The appeal date is October 24, 2014.
- ↑ Macfarquhar, Neil . Russia Cancels Exchange Program After The Student Seeks US Asylum , The New York Times (October 4, 2014). The appeal date is April 8, 2017.
- ↑ Evgenia Golovin. Golodets promised to understand the reason for closing FLEX Slon.ru , 10/08/2014
Links
- Unofficial page of the program in Russian
- Program page on the US Department of State website (English)
- Video report on the FLEX program from Voice of America
- Open Lesson Magazine: FLEX School Exchange Program
- FLEX Program Takes Young Ukrainians (Eng.)