London: The British government has begun a direct messaging campaign to caution overseas students, including Indians, against overstaying their visas or claiming asylum in the country as their study visas expire.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper used a statement in the House of Commons on Monday to highlight her plans to fix a “broken” asylum system and a complete overhaul of the appeals system.
An ‘Immigration White Paper’ released earlier this year had flagged a series of problems involving the “misuse and exploitation of student visas”, which led to increasing numbers of asylum claims from foreign students at the end of their course.
“We are taking a series of practical steps to tackle the chaos and make sure that we have got a system that is ordered and controlled again,” Cooper told the BBC.
“Up to 15,000 students each year end up claiming asylum often as they
come to the end of their visa, even when things haven’t changed in their
home country. Then going into the
asylum system, sometimes staying
there for years, that also causes problems with asylum accommodation and hotels. That’s what we need to fix,” the minister said.
Thousands of foreign students enrolled in UK universities are expected to receive these direct Home Office messages as they approach the end of their visas, viewed as a deterrent to breaching
the conditions.agencies