This article looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students, focusing on Portuguese-speaking African and Brazilian students during the lockdown of spring 2020. Using evidence from interviews conducted with 27 students domiciled in Portugal, we illustrate some of the challenges faced by students when coping with the pandemic, including difficulties in meeting the cost of tertiary education and the centrality of working to sustain their stays abroad, alongside the emotional impact of prolonged domestic confinement and separation from families. We also consider the paradoxes of online teaching, which have made visible the digital gap between local and international Global South students in the context of their stays. In this sense, pre-existing inequalities are more at the centre of students’ concerns than new issues raised by COVID-19, a pandemic that served to reveal former injustice in the context of global capitalism. In our conclusion, we argue that there is a need for greater recognition of the vulnerabilities facing certain African and Brazilian students at Global North universities in the context of contemporary neo-liberalism, including their dependence upon precarious work. Policy responses include the need for a more serious involvement and responsibility by both home and host higher education institutions in the lives of their students abroad.

本文着眼于 COVID-19 大流行对国际学生的影响，重点关注 2020 年春季封锁期间讲葡萄牙语的非洲和巴西学生。利用对居住在葡萄牙的 27 名学生进行采访的证据，我们说明了一些挑战学生在应对大流行时面临的困难，包括难以支付高等教育费用和工作以维持在国外的生活，以及长期居家隔离和与家人分离的情感影响。我们还考虑了在线教学的悖论，这些悖论使本地和国际全球南方学生在逗留期间的数字鸿沟可见一斑。在这个意义上，与 COVID-19 引发的新问题相比，先前存在的不平等更成为学生关注的中心，这种流行病揭示了全球资本主义背景下以前的不公正。在我们的结论中，我们认为需要更多地认识到在当代新自由主义背景下全球北方大学的某些非洲和巴西学生所面临的脆弱性，包括他们对不稳定工作的依赖。政策应对措施包括本国和东道国高等教育机构需要更认真地参与和负责海外学生的生活。我们认为，在当代新自由主义的背景下，需要更多地认识到某些非洲和巴西学生在全球北方大学所面临的脆弱性，包括他们对不稳定工作的依赖。政策应对措施包括本国和东道国高等教育机构需要更认真地参与和负责海外学生的生活。我们认为，在当代新自由主义的背景下，需要更多地认识到某些非洲和巴西学生在全球北方大学所面临的脆弱性，包括他们对不稳定工作的依赖。政策回应包括本国和东道国高等教育机构都需要更认真地参与和负责海外学生的生活。