Macedonian Students' 'Hellish' Dorm Protest Goes Viral

Images of mold-covered walls, squalid toilets, decaying corridors, rooms damp from broken pipes and a canteen with a dismal-looking array of food, have drawn attention on social networks to the plight of students in Macedonia.

The gallery of images is part of a student drive to obtain better conditions in university dormitories, dubbed Operation Dorm, “Operacija studentski”.

“Student dormitories in Macedonia are notorious for their sub-human conditions,” the irate students wrote. “This one in particular is deteriorating very quickly, both from too much corruption within the internal dormitory administration and from the indifference of the government structures,” they wrote.

Images posted on the site Imgur have drawn thousands of comments worldwide, deploring the miserable conditions depicted, and declaring solidarity with the students.

The gallery then went viral on Reddit and Facebook as well, catching the attention of some of the world's leading media.

The students write that many toilets and showers are broken, and that leaking pipes are a common occurrence in dorms. So is a shortage of hot water, electricity, heating, food and the internet.

“We are raising our voice because this is not acceptable anymore!" a statement from the students’ movement reads, adding that existing student associations have been no help.

“The Students Union and Student Parliament have been explaining to us that... if we do not like it we should leave, that we should be silent, because either way we cannot change anything."

bathroom

Built in the 1970, the dorm that houses more than 1,200 students of the state Sts Cyril and Methodius University was once considered a marvel of modernist...