UK’s universities need to strengthen ties with India
Nearly 450,000 international students in Britain contribute more than £25 billion to the economy
The UK government’ s anti- immigration approach hash armed the UK’ s relationship with India for long, leading to a 50% drop in the number of Indians studying in the UK between 20102015. With new evidence emerging, there is hope that the government’s position is becoming ever more unstable.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said in India last year that the UK will make changes to its visa and immigration agreements with India – a vital condition needed for the UK’s business and trading relationships with India to grow – only in return for India’s help in repatriating Indians who overstay their visa. Yet, barely a week after Parliament rose for recess this summer, the UK Office for Statistics Regulation has sneaked out a report saying that we cannot rely on the immigration statistics for international students, which have to be termed ‘experimental’, as they are based on the international passenger survey figures and are deemed to be completely unreliable. The government chose to release thereport at a time when Parliament was in recess, when they knew it would not receive proper scrutiny from MP sand the House of Lords.
These statistics are not merely misleading, they are so inaccurate it would be laughable if the issue were not so serious. The figures do not include those who travel through airports after 10pm, when many flights to India depart, among other countries of origin for UK international students. Repeatedly, the government has over estimated the number of international students over staying their visas, based on these spurious figures, with estimates of total overstaying students being quoted as nearly 100,000. However, last year, The Times of London revealed that an unpublished official study, based one-exit checks enforced in 2015, found that in reality only 1.5% of inter- national students over stay their visas. Why won’t the government release those statistics? It is because these statistics would silence Theresa May, a former home secretary, and the current home secretary in their stub born defence of the government’ s target to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands.
The UK Home Office repeatedly refuses to re-introduce visible passport checks when people leave the UK–this move would enable accurate immigration statistics, including for students, quite apart from being necessary from a national security point of view, in the dangerous world we live in.
UK international trade secretary Liam Fox talks about a post-Brexit free trade agreement with India, but the UK’ san ti- immigration approach led to the Indian commerce minister saying, during May and Fox’s visit to India last year, “We aren’t being treated as old friends any longer. It’s a tight professional engagement”.
Close to 450,000 international students who study in the UK, a huge proportion from India, contribute over £25 billion (₹200,000crore) to the UK economy. UK universities need to take every opportunity to strengthen ties with India. Indians’ freedom to study in the UK and the opportunity for joint research ventures put both nations at a huge advantage
The only acceptable step forward is for May to pledge to remove international students from the net migration figures, and in that one move show India that the UK is ready to build on the vital connection that Britain’s universities and research sector supports.
Former British PM David Cameron and chancellor Philip Hammond have both spoken of their support for the idea, defying current policy. And just 22% of the UK public agree that international students should be classified as immigrants, according to Universities UK. The US, Canada and Australia, classify international students as temporary residents when calculating their net migration statistics, and so should the UK.
We could enhance the impact that international students have in the UK by re- introducing the two-year post-study work visa for all international students who graduate from UK universities – allowing them to earn some money, pay for their studies, contribute to the UK economy, pay taxes in the UK and further build their generation-long links with Britain.
The future of the UK-India bond will be built on these ties – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated this himself.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY SHOULD REMOVE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM THE NET MIGRATION FIGURES, AND SHOW INDIA THAT THE UK IS READY TO BUILD ON THIS VITAL CONNECTION