FOUR Chechen students have left a war torn country behind to study in Huddersfield.

They are among 23 students who left Chechnya to learn in Britain as part of a sponsorship scheme aimed at rebuilding its education system after the brutal war between Chechen separatists and Russian federal forces.

Rizvan Gishlarkaev, Adam Mentsiev, Sulambek Isaev, all 19, and 20-year-old Viskhan Magomadov are all currently studying at Huddersfield University.

They said they hoped their new English skills would benefit them and their country when they return to Chechnya.

Rizvan said of England: “I knew it would be a beautiful country, all the trees and fields, but we never expected it to be so beautiful.

“It is a great experience for us, we will learn so much more about the world and especially about the British people.

“I hope we can take back and use it to make a good friendship between the British and the Chechen people.”

Sulambek, who wants to go into business in the future, added: “Before we came we knew about Stonehenge and the football teams here, but we didn’t know what to expect here.

“We got this opportunity to come abroad and it was great luck for us because not many other people do.

“Most people in Chechnya learn in Russian so they haven’t experienced this.

“In the future I hope more Chechen people will come to England.

“Maybe after 50 years you will come to Chechnya, at the moment it is not to an interesting place for learning.”

The main way they studied English in their home country was by reading books.

Now they are able to practice their language skills every day, taking part in lessons at the university’s International Study Centre.

The Chechnya war began in 1994 and left some 70-80,000 people - mostly civilians - dead, destroyed the economy, and caused one third of the 1.3 million Chechen’s to flee.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov came up with the education scheme which is intended to run for the next ten years.

Rizvan, Adam, Sulambek and Viskhan, along with 19 other Chechen students learning throughout the UK, were given the opportunity to learn in Huddersfield through Study Group, an international education scheme which works in 120 countries.

Students who have previously received a fragmented education broken by war or time spent in refugee camps are able to take part in the Study Group scheme.