My Take | International students victims of Sunak’s short-term political goals
- Policy change aimed at deterring postgrads from overseas is nothing to celebrate in a Britain that badly needs the money and skills post-Brexit
Britain should be revelling in its ability to attract growing numbers of international students to its universities, given the valuable contribution they make to the country.
But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak marked the new year by celebrating a policy change which will deter foreign postgraduate students from applying for courses in the UK and make life more difficult for those that do.
In his first post of 2024 on X, formerly Twitter, Sunak championed a January 1 ban on new students bringing their dependent family members with them. Only research courses and government-funded scholarships are exempt.
Sunak wrote: “From today, the majority of foreign university students cannot bring family members to the UK. In 2024 we’re already delivering for the British people.”
The post, not surprisingly, sparked a backlash among critics who branded it arrogant, pathetic, and embarrassing.
International students have been unfairly targeted as the government becomes increasingly desperate to show it is getting tough on immigration. The issue, often with xenophobic overtones, was a driver of Britain’s misconceived departure from the European Union in 2020. But since Brexit, immigration has soared. A record level of net migration was recorded in 2022, at 745,000. This has become a make or break issue for the government with a general election expected this year.