Christ Church Students’ Union is appalled at the decision taken by the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) with regards to the International License to sponsor international student visa’s being revoked from London Metropolitan University. We believe that this is a harsh discriminating outcome that penalises a population that brings cultural, educational and also monetary wealth to the UK. We do not want international students to be the scapegoat but we also do not want London Met to be the first of many. We would like to extend our support to London Met Students’ Union and all of its members whilst this situation unfolds.
This move will see approximately 2000 students being informed AFTER the announcement that they now have 60 days to find another University or face immediate deportation without completing their degrees. With some students having paid as much as £60,000 towards their degrees some of which have one year left of their course, Christ Church Students’ Union believes this is a disgrace and an unjust move particularly because this is an export industry that provides a £12.5bn revenue stream for the UK.
The National Union of Students President, Liam Burns has said:
“The needs of students must be at the heart of any process to find new places of study and NUS will be working with UUK and HEFCE to support affected students and ensure as far as possible that they can continue studying in the UK.”
“Politicians need to realise that a continued attitude of suspicion towards international students could endanger the continuation of higher education as a successful export industry. This heavy-handed decision makes no sense for students, no sense for institutions and no sense for the country. This situation and the botched process by which the decision was arrived at could be avoided if international students were not included in statistics of permanent migrants.”
A recent NUS survey regarding changes in policy that have made life more difficult for International Students found that 40% of international students would NOT recommend the UK as a destination for study, thus feeling unwelcome in the UK. This trend will continue to show itself following the announcement by the UKBA.
Christ Church Students’ Union, will be writing to local MP, Julian Brazier, inviting him to support our stance and raise concerns on behalf of us to the government. We will also be asking the Vice Chancellor to show and declare support on this cause.
To back students that are at a loss and to show your personal support, sign the petition via this link:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-for-london-metropolitan-university-and-internat1.html
Jo Bartson-Umuliisa
Vice President (Welfare & Education).
UPDATE 4th September 2012
Following on from the statement from Christ Church Students’ Union, the Vice Chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University has shown support for our call and has made the following statement on the situation.
‘…other major news, as many of you will be aware, is the UKBA decision to revoke London Metropolitan University’s highly trusted status, i.e. its licence to recruit non-EU students. We do not know the details of course but it is certainly the case that this development is being reported in major overseas markets and will not help the UK HE sector to maintain its share of overseas students. We have offered to participate in rescue plans to help the students who cannot continue at LMU as a result of the decision. I am grateful to Cate Facey in the International Office for her work on this.’
The SU welcomes this support and efforts during this time.
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