“2,000 overseas, non-EU, students have 60 days to find an alternative institution to sponsor them or face deportation.”
This is so awful.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19419395
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2012/august/28-LMU-revoked1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/aug/30/london-metropolitan-university-international-students
http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/blogs/blog/aaronkiely/2012/08/30/Defend-international-students-at-London-Met-facing-deportation-let-international-students-study/
“This government’s move to deport thousands of international students studying at London Met University is totally disgraceful. The Tories should not be allowed to throw international students out of the country at will - students who have spent years studying and have paid thousands of pounds may now be denied the chance to finish their education.
Let this government be warned that deporting international students will cause huge damage to Britain’s reputation across the world. We will rightly be seen as a country, which treats foreign students with disrespect and contempt – making Britain an extremely unattractive destination for future international students.”
http://educationactivistnetwork.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/london-met-hands-off-our-students-hands-off-our-classmates/
“Both university management and UKBA need to hear our message loud and clear: ‘Hands off our students – Hands off our classmates’. Future demonstrations, stunts and actions will be called by the respective unions on campus. We have to carry this message into this autumn’s TUC demonstration on October 20 and the NUS demonstration on November 21.”
TUC demo - http://www.facebook.com/events/181510105308324/
NUS demo - http://www.facebook.com/events/259158454193672/
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-for-london-metropolitan-university-and-internat1.html
There are two petitions, this one is also going around and seems to have more by means of signatures:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/amnesty-for-international-students-at-london-metropolit.html
I think we have to recognise this as unabashed racism on the part of the ConDem government. London Met as a university is renowned for it’s large number of international students, and home-shores students are also much more proportionately from working class backgrounds. The decision could make London Met financially unviable and force it to close. This is both a racist attack against multicultural society, and an extension of the Tory’s attack against working class people having access to higher education.
The Education Activist Network is also mounting a solidarity campaign in support of students effected by this.http://educationactivistnetwork.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/hands-off-our-students-hands-off-our-classmates-photo-campaign/
