Rishi Sunak Plans Curbs On Foreign Students To Control Migration: Report

The Sunak government has promised to reduce net immigration in the UK. (a file)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will consider “all options”, including reducing the number of foreign students, in his bid to slash growing net immigration in the UK, according to a report from the BBC.

Citing a Downing Street spokesman, the report said Mr Sunak would consider restrictions on overseas students seeking “low-quality” degrees and bringing dependents. However, the spokesperson did not specify what the “low quality” score is.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures this week sparked the UK government’s concerns about a rise in immigration, which showed a massive jump in the number of migrants. Net immigration to the UK rose from 173,000 in 2021 to 504,000 this year – an increase of 331,000.

Foreign students, especially Indians who first took over China to make up the majority of student visas, have been a huge contributor to this rise.

Mr Sunak’s spokesman said on Friday: “We are looking at all options to make sure the immigration system works. The prime minister is fully committed to bringing the overall numbers down.”

But controlling the number of immigrants by restricting the number of foreign students is a difficult task. The report said that British universities depend on higher fees from international students to compensate for the money, as they lose by charging lower fees for British students, and some universities even risk bankruptcy if restrictions are imposed on the so-called low-quality degrees.

An Indian community-led student organization urged the government on Friday to remove international students from the country’s immigration statistics. Sanam Arora, Head of National Indian Students, said: “Students who are temporarily in the UK should not be considered immigrants. International students, of whom Indians are the largest group, generate a net profit of £30 billion in the UK economy.” and the Alumni Association (NISAU) in the United Kingdom.

Sunak’s government has promised to reduce net immigration into the UK, with India’s Home Secretary Soila Braverman earlier complaining about Indian students staying in the country. “I have concerns about having an open border immigration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit. Look at immigration in this country – the largest group of people who have overstayed are Indian immigrants,” she said.