EDUCATION/IMMIGRATION

London Met University students fear removal from Uk

International students at the London Metropolitan University, who face deportation from the UK, protest on Downing Street Link to this video

 
Walk through the campus of London Metropolitan University and the sense of loss is palpable. Every international student looks crushed after the north London university became the first in the UK to be stripped by the Home Office of its ability to sponsor foreign learners.

What these students fear most is that if they don't, by some miracle, get themselves a place at a new university within the next few months, they will be removed from the country.
Cecil Ezeja, 21, from Enugu state in Nigeria was the great hope for his family. Now he dreads the moment when he has to tell his family that his year of studying electronic communications and the £10,080 they paid has come to naught.
"I can't call them, I don't want to cause any heartbreak … I want to visit some other unis [first] to see if they can accept me."
But he knows, like many others, that the timing, just before the start of the academic year, means it is unlikely that another university will have a spare place especially since he is midway through his degree. "If it was in June or July … I would have more time to apply for [different] uni … I'm very upset," he said. "The decision was made at the wrong time. I'm not an [immigration] threat. I came to this country on 3 September 2011 and I've not broken any tiny law.
"I'm just a student. I come to school in the morning, I go back to my house, I go to the library. I haven't done anything … Maybe there's a few people that are breaking the law but they should investigate [them] not sack all the students, punish everybody."
For Mohammed Islam, 23, from Bangladesh, it is the second time he has enrolled for a law degree and found himself at an institution suddenly stripped of its ability to host foreign students. "I came here in 2009, to a college. When I was back home, I don't know which place was a college, because on the website they're all saying they're really good, everything is OK. But when you are not [there] in person, you can not understand what is going on.
"So I came to a college and they had the same problem, they [the Home Office] cancelled their licence. I was in deep water."
Now he's in deep water again. "I have to find a new uni and if I can't I have to go back."
He has not told his parents but hopes they are prepared to stump up another £10,000 to pay for his degree.
"I have a dream," he said. "To finish my LLB from a good university from the UK. This is my main dream."
Inside the university help centre, the phones are ringing off the hook. Ursula Rehman, from Dubai, looks desperate.
She has just one semester to go to complete her degree in biomedical sciences and is not having any luck moving to another university.
"I've spoken to so many universities now and they say, 'oh we don't do transfers, we don't do this, or we'll have to charge you this much'." She's exasperated. Everyone, she says, is worried and scared.
"I've got so many friends who come from really poor backgrounds. And they come here so that they have a degree and they go back and get a really good job, because they've got a degree from London UK. And now …"
Tellingly, she has not told her parents either. "I don't want them to panic, and I hope they don't hear it from somewhere."
She blames herself for the whole debacle. Rehman says she should have accepted one of the other four university places she was offered three years ago.
"I know its my fault, but I'm really getting tense now." Staring down at the floor she adds, "why did I come here?".
It is a very good question.

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London Metropolitan University visa licence revoked: Q&A What happens now for the estimated 2,700 students directly affected by this UK Border Agency decision? London Metropolitan University has lost its right to recruit international students from outside the EU. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian 
Why has London Metropolitan University lost its right to recruit international students from outside the EU?

Because of what the government has called "serious systemic failure" in its monitoring of its international student body. It says UK Border Agency checks suggest that in more than a quarter of the cases it sampled, thestudents did not have permission to stay in the country, a "significant proportion" did not have sufficient English and there was no proof that half of those sampled were turning up to lectures.
How many students are affected?
The university says around 2,700 already there or planning to go to London Met are directly affected, but the crisis could affect the entire future of the university with its 30,000 students and 2,000 staff.
Will students have to leave the country?
Those already on courses and with valid visas have 60 days to find another course at another university or college. If they fail to do so they must leave voluntarily or be "administratively removed". The 60-day clock for each student starts ticking when he or she receives a letter from the UK Border Agency. These are already being sent out.
Any existing student without valid permission to remain in this country – and the UK Border Agency says its checks found some – do not get the same 60-day leeway.
However, students who were about to come to the UK to take up their studies with what were until Wednesday valid visas will now have them cancelled. If they then travel to the UK, they will be refused entry. It is uncertain how many of these potential students there are. The university said it had confirmed places for about 300 before its licence was suspended on 16 July but it is not clear how many of these have been given visas.
How easy will it be to find new places elsewhere for international students already at London Met?
Not at all. Most universities have fixed their numbers of international students by now. Then there is the question of matching course requirements to the academic work any London Met international student has already done. Then the student has to apply again for a valid visa. If they don't have one within 60 days from Wednesday they have to leave.
Why is the future of the university potentially at risk?
The university says this decision blows a £30m hole in its budget – taking away nearly a fifth of it. The university calls the UKBA action a "disproportionate" response which could have "severely damaging" implications for its other students. It could not make up the shortfall through taking in more home students even if enough wanted to go there. Funding from the government depends on limits it sets for the number of home students each university can take.
Severe financial problems at the university have already meant huge changes at London Met since 2009, including a 70% cut on the number of courses it offers.
What does this mean for Britain's reputation abroad?
There is some anxiety across the higher education sector. There are about 300,000 non-EU students at university in Britain at any one time, worth an estimated £5bn a year to the economy. Quite apart from that, the international flavour of campuses, not just in seminar rooms and lecture halls, is regarded as a vital part of the university experience.
The UKBA says it has been working with London Met since March to remedy its shortcomings. Three other universities have previously had their licence to recruit students suspended and soon put matters right. It also says 500 higher education colleges have had their licences revoked. It is unable to easily estimate the number of student visas that have been revoked as a result or replacement ones issued where students have found suitably licensed alternatives.
"These are problems with one university, not the whole sector," said a spokesperson. "British universities are among the best in the world – and Britain remains a top-class destination for top-class international students.
"We are doing everything possible, working with the taskforce established by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to assist students that have been affected."
The UK Border Agency's general advice to international students is here.