Illegal immigrants and fraudulent asylum claims have put the UK government in an awkward position. It seems now that some international students in the UK have been trying to stay in the UK by following the wrong path. Let’s dig deep into this matter.
The current rise in the number of international students in the UK seeking asylum after arriving in the country has made the UK Home Office speak up and has led to serious concerns over the issue. It is important to note that between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022, approximately 3,000 students have applied for asylum in their first year of living in the UK. According to the data, a considerable portion of these students (around 1,600) come from Bangladesh.
Authenticity Concern of the Home Office
The surge in UK international students seeking asylum has alarmed the immigration authorities, which in turn has led them to suspend Bangladeshi students from receiving courses until their background checks have been confirmed and completed. The immigration authorities made this decision after discovering several forged identification documents. Furthermore, there has been a significant rise in university applications from Ghana. It is also evident that a large portion of these applications were discovered to depend on fraudulent paperwork.
View From The Academics
Alan Smithers, a professor from the University of Buckingham, stated that students acquiring visas for illegal entry into the country and the current issue of small boats crossing the Channel are two distinct things yet somehow similar in nature. The professor also noted that the international students in the UK, who are especially from Bangladesh, were, for the most part, males aged between 21-30 who were seeking asylum in the UK. He also mentioned that these students had offers from universities for courses that contained “international” or “business” in the title.
The UK Home Office has clearly stated in response that these claimants of asylum have to go through diligent evaluation in accordance with established policies.
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