Thousands of foreign students claim asylum within months of arriving in Britain, universities warned

LONDON Oct 29: Home Office chiefs have warned universities about a ‘marked’ increase in foreign students seeking asylum within months of arriving in the UK, Daily Mail newspaper reported.

Government papers show 3,000 students made claims within their first year living in the country between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 – some 1,600 from Bangladesh.

Immigration chiefs became so alarmed they ordered some universities to suspend course offers to ‘anyone from Bangladesh’ until background checks were complete. They warned many were using forged identity documents.

Officials also flagged a 100 per cent leap in university applications from Ghana, warning that a quarter of those investigated relied on fraudulent paperwork.

It showed most asylum claims from Bangladeshis were made by men aged between 21 and 30. Almost 1,400 had received university offers to study courses with ‘business’ or ‘international’ in the title.

Last night, a leading academic described the scandal as higher education’s equivalent of small boats crossing the Channel.

Professor Alan Smithers, of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: ‘People are using the student visa as a means of gaining illicit entry to the UK… it is no different to the boats crossing the Channel.’

The Home Office said all asylum claims were ‘carefully considered in line with published policy’.