Immigration News

Over 1,500 foreign students a month are being reported to immigration officials over UK visa concerns.

Between March 2009 and August 2010, universities and other sponsors of students reported 27,121 migrants to the UK Border Agency over suspicions concerning their visa status.

228,000 foreign students came to the UK last year, and three in four of these students came from outside the EU.

The figures were released to the Manifesto Club campaign group under the Freedom of Information Act. In its Students Under Watch report, the Manifesto Club, which campaigns against regulation, said strict visa controls were forcing academics to spy on students, eroding academic autonomy and damaging relationships between students and staff.

The group said: “Universities are reporting large numbers of international students to the UKBA. The agency asks sponsors to email any suspicions about students; each notification can include information about several students.”

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said: “The relationship between staff and students is an incredibly important one that is built on trust and must not be jeopardised by fears that lecturers may be spying on students. Successive governments have had plans to turn lecturers into spooks overwhelmingly rejected by the academic community.”