Media misses the point, again: Student Visa Checks

At the Manifesto Club we have been campaigning to address the damaging effects migration policies are having on academia and the arts. It has been an uphill battle since we go against the common opinion that immigration should be severely managed to protect a British society weakened by decades of excessive migration waves.

Through testmonies, case studies we have been showing what the truth of these policies is, going beyond the rhetorical war of statistics politicians and the media prefer to stick to. This is highlighted in the new report Students under Watch: Visa checks and the rise of surveillance in UK universities.

Launched on Thursday the most recent report received widespread coverage in the UK (Telegraph, BBC, Daily Mirror, Evening Standard, Guardian ...) and abroad, which is a good thing because it can only help to bring to the fore a debate that's too long been had discreetly in meeting rooms.

However, it is worrying that what caught media attention was one single statistic: the number of reports sent to the UKBA by education providers sponsoring international students. Most articles began by suggesting that this meant 27.121 international students were therefore bogus, though they often then went on to state that reporting on a student did not mean they were bogus, the damage had already been done.

How one frames a discussion informs the course of that discussion. And so it is concerning that sensationalism and fear mongering seem to be the angles politics and the media feel comfortable using when dealing with immigration.

What our report actually highlighted was how inadequate the visa system is for a sector that works along very specific lines. And this inadequacy, this lack of understanding of how academia functions is slowly but surely changing this sector. The monitoring requirements imposed on sponsors is eroding the invaluable relationship of trust between staff and students, and spreading a culture of surveillance illustrated by the 27.121 reports sent to the UKBA in less than 18 months.

The cap on skilled migrants and the monthly quotas for certificates of sponsorship mean universities cannot recruit the very best when they need them, but often have had to go for second or third best for the job. World renowned researchers are turning away from the UK because they find the visa procedures insulting, lengthy and costly. International collaborations between academics are being hampered by the rigidity of a system and the discretionary power of individual border agents.

In this we are all losing out because what once was the pride of a whole country, its scientific and intellectual research and teaching, is being sacrificed in the name of populist politics. Meanwhile, Australia, which inspired the British visa system, is relaxing its visa systems and restrictions for international students, because it has recognised just how damaging it has been to its education sector and overall image.