On May 13, 2024, a building at the University of Manchester in the UK was vandalized with red paint symbolizing blood. (MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
- A report on Tuesday warned that some universities in the UK could collapse due to the government's approach to legal immigration.
- The independent Immigration Advisory Committee has been commissioned by the government to investigate concerns that education visas are being misused.
- The report found no such abuses, saying instead that educational institutions rely on international students and that new restrictions could drive them away.
Britain should avoid further restrictions on the number of international students or some universities could collapse, a government-commissioned report said on Tuesday, after foreign registrations plummeted next year.
High levels of legal immigration have long dominated British political debate and were one of the main drivers of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak's government is trying to reduce the number of students coming to the UK, including banning care staff, low-paid workers and some graduate students from bringing their families with them.
The Immigration Advisory Council, an independent body that advises the government, said in September this year that the number of foreign graduate students who paid a deposit to study at a British university had fallen from a year earlier, due to the government's restrictions on education visas. It was announced that there was a 63% decrease compared to the previous year. .
The report said further restrictions on the so-called graduate route, which allows international students to work in the UK for up to two years after graduation, risked job losses, course closures and “some institutions going bankrupt”. warned that it would lead to
The UK is home to some of the world's most famous and popular universities, from Oxford and Cambridge to Imperial College London. As many world leaders study at British universities, business leaders say they foster innovation, boost creativity and provide a form of soft power.
The government commissioned the review following concerns that the graduate visa route was being misused. Some British politicians have complained that some students are applying for asylum or overstay after applying for a visa.
Esther McVeigh, a minister in Sunak's cabinet, said on Monday that some British universities were “selling immigration to international students rather than education”.
Mr Sunak's spokesman said the government would consider the report and take action. But a spokesperson highlighted concerns about the scheme, pointing out that more than 40% of international students using this route are either not working or earn less than £15,000 a year after graduating.
The Immigration Advisory Committee determined there was no evidence of widespread abuse, particularly with respect to the graduate student route. Students from four countries – India, Nigeria, China and Pakistan account for 70% of his graduate visas.
British business lobby CBI says British universities are one of Britain's biggest export successes, after the Immigration Advisory Committee said the system was not being abused. “The time has come to put an end to this period of harmful speculation and leave Britain's future in doubt.” ”