THE Home Office is targeting international students by texting them with threats they will be removed from the UK if they overstay their visas.
Tens of thousands of students are being contacted under a new scheme to bring down the number of foreign students staying on in the UK after their study visas have expired.
In a move with echoes of the UK Government’s infamous “go home” van campaign in 2013, 130,000 students and their families will receive a text warning them that if they have “no legal right to remain” in Britain they “must leave”, the BBC reports.
Around 10,000 people whose visas are due to expire have already received the texts and more will be contacted in the coming months, it was reported.
The full texts read: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused.
“Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support.
“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don't, we will remove you.”
It is thought to be the first time the UK Government has directly contacted international students about overstaying visas.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that some foreign students are claiming for asylum “even when things haven’t changed in their home country”.
Around 13% of asylum applications in the UK in the year to June – around 14,800 – were from people who had arrived on a study visa. The statistics do not break down how many of these had overstayed their study visas.
It comes amid a wider push from Labour to appear to be taking a tough line on immigration, with the Home Secretary using the first day back from summer recess to announce a new clampdown on the rights of refugees to bring their families to the UK.
Cooper announced that she would temporarily close applications for the family reunion scheme, one of the few safe and legal routes for people fleeing war and persecution to come to Britain.
And the Home Office will this month tighten up the visa refusal and course completion rates that universities have to meet in order not to risk losing their ability to sponsor future visas.
Later in September, the first deportations under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal with France will begin as the UK Government attempts to respond to the challenge on its right from Reform UK on immigration.
Nigel Farage capitalised on the summer recess by pushing small boats and migration to the top of the news agenda.
Fewer people have claimed asylum through work and study visas than arrived by small boat, according to Home Office data.
In the year to June 43,600 out of 111,084 asylum applications came from people who had made the perilous Channel crossing, while 41,100 had arrived in Britain through work, study or visitor visas.
Of the latter category the largest number, 14,800, came from people on study visas, around six times the figure from 2020.
Since June, there has been a 10% drop but the Home Office wants to see this fall further. Cooper told the BBC that despite student claims making up just over 10% of total asylum claims, the Government must “tackle every single bit” of the system.
