UK Border Force has detained and deported international students who couldn’t answer questions about their course, says The PIE News.
UK based solicitor, Dele Olawanle, has reported cases of some students being denied entry:
‘There are people who go to the point of entry and they will be asking them questions like “How did you find out about this course, what research do you do, why are you coming?”
‘I think that approach is oppressive because when a student is coming to study a course, they have maybe the reading list, but how do you expect them to answer you adequately? And in an atmosphere that isn’t friendly? It’s just impossible. Even the best prepared student will not be able to answer you correctly.’
Olawanle explained that sometimes students are unable to receive legal advice when they have been detained. In the worst cases, they may be sent home without the financial ability to return.
One Chevening scholar, David, is studying at the University of Birmingham. He described a ‘harsh’ and embarrassing encounter with border control.
‘With other people before me, they went smoothly through, in less time,’ says David. ‘But when it was my turn he asked where I would be doing my course, my school, what method or route I used to come.
‘I said a Chevening Scholarship, which is from the UK government. And he said, “why should they have given you a scholarship?”’
In a statement to PIE, the Home Office have said extra checks are sometimes ‘necessary’ to maintain a safe and secure border.
‘In some instances, individuals without the necessary immigration permission for the activities they intend to undertake in the UK may be refused permission to enter at the border.’
