University students from Kurdistan traveled to Holland to take part in an annual exchange program with a Dutch university.

Ten undergraduate and postgraduate students, who scored the highest marks in their Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewler, won the opportunity to visit Holland.

The lucky students learned about multiculturalism, civil society and politics and life in the Netherlands during the eight day trip at the end of last month. "The visit was very useful for exchanging views and promoting mutual understanding of many contemporary issues," said 22-year-old Hatm Ali, a third year student from Erbil.

"The program has increased our awareness, improved our academic skills and developed potential leadership qualities."

Last May, a delegation of students from the University of Amsterdam arrived in Kurdistan in the first step of the exchange program, the first of its kind between Iraqi and Dutch universities.

This year, the group met politicians, visited important institutions such as the International Criminal Court, the European Parliament and human rights organizations. They also visited historic sites such as the Anne Frank Museum.

Arsalan Sadiq, 28, also from Erbil, found many benefits from the exchange and realized the benefits of his own education at the university. He said:

"Seeing the Netherlands was something new for me, but I didn't face any academic or cultural shock because of the education we received at UKH.

"We also gained further confidence in ourselves, as we realized that UKH is really good and competitive, and provides a world-class education.”

The university is the only public, independent, English-language international university in the country.