Thousands of international students sent messages warning them that they will be “removed” from the country if they have no legal right to remain once their visa has expired.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stresses that “abuse of the system” will not be tolerated.
Critics hit back at the policy, accusing the Labour party of kowtowing to populist anti-immigration sentiment.
Some 130,000 students and their families in total are due to be messaged via text or email reminding them that their visa is coming to an end, with an explicit warning that bogus asylum claims will be refused.
The message, which has already been sent to 10,000 students, reads: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused. Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support.
“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”
It forms part of a raft of measures announced today to crack down on what the Home Office has called an “alarming” increase in the number of international students applying for asylum when their visas are nearing expiry.
In May, the government’s immigration white paper took aim at this trend, pointing out that half of all asylum claims for people already in the UK on a legitimate visa route were people issued a study visa. However, a closer look at Home Office data shows that students only account for 16% of all asylum claims.
If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refusedText to international students
Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that some international students were applying for asylum “even when things haven’t changed in their home country” and staying in the UK for years afterwards, which then has a knock-on effect on existing asylum accommodation.
She said that while the UK government wants to support “genuine refugees”, students should not be claiming asylum at the end of their program if nothing has changed in their country while they have been studying abroad.
“We need to clamp down on that kind of abuse, and that’s why we’re sending these messages – to be very clear to people the asylum system is not for people who just want to extend their visas,” she said.
In response, the University and College Union general secretary, Jo Grady, called the measures an “attack on international students” that had “very little to do with visa overstays” and more to to with the ruling Labour party “aping” the anti-immigration Reform party, which has been gaining popularity in the UK.
‘With [Reform leader Nigel] Farage talking up mass deportations and migrant prison camps, Labour continuing to demonise immigrants and refugees isn’t just immoral, it’s political suicide,” she added.
“Labour will never outflank Reform on division and bigotry. They should instead be making the case for a welcoming and economically strong Britain, of which international students and a world-leading higher education sector are an integral part.’
Although the latest data released around the time of the immigration white paper suggests students made up 16% of asylum claims, according to the Home Office this is six times as many students who claimed asylum five years ago.
This number has dropped by 10% since the immigration white paper was released – but the government is still keen for this trend to continue.
Those arriving on student visas, around 16,000, were the biggest group in this cohort.
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