International students could be put in 'danger' by Home Office crackdown on asylum claims

Sam Pordale fled the Taliban in Afghanistan when he was 21 years old four years ago. He came to the UK on a small boat and spent six months in an asylum hotel before earning a scholarship to study at the University of Warwick. Now heading into his final year, he says that the opportunity has changed his life.

“It gave me hope,” the 24-year-old says. “I was an asylum seeker, and when I got to university, it changed everything. I have hope for the future, and it wouldn’t have been possible if I were an asylum seeker who wasn’t able to start their education. I think I would be a completely different person.”

Pordale speaks to the Big Issue on the day the Home Office has announced plans to crack down on the number of international students claiming asylum in the UK.

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Home secretary Yvette Cooper said there has been an “alarming” spike in the number of people claiming asylum after their student visas have expired. Around 14,800 asylum claims in the year to June were people with a student visa, which is 13% of all claims, according to official data.

These are people who arrived legally through the further education system. The government believes that people are abusing the system and overstaying their visas, but charities supporting refugees argue that the majority of these claims are legitimate and that the government’s rhetoric risks “fuelling” right-wing violence against asylum seekers.

Griff Ferris, interim director of advocacy and communications at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, says: “This government’s ongoing persecution of people seeking safety knows no bounds. This language of ‘clamping down’ on international students is appalling. Seeking asylum is a human right, not a loophole. 

“People who come here to study can also face danger and persecution back home. So when a student visa ends, it makes perfect sense that someone fearing for their life would apply for asylum, as is their right.”

This is a different situation from Pordale’s. He had already been granted asylum before he started studying at the University of Warwick, but he is deeply concerned about the impact it could have on fellow students who feel that their home countries are unsafe to return to after they complete their studies.

Pordale said some international students in his classes have felt “scared” of sharing their political ideas for fear of getting into trouble in their home countries. He believes that people should have a right to claim asylum in the UK if their safety would be threatened if they returned home.

“I think it puts them in more danger,” Pordale says of the government’s plans to crack down on international students claiming asylum. He is especially concerned for student activists.

Pordale was named a Big Issue Changemaker in 2024 for his volunteer work with Warwick Student Action for Refugees (STAR), and he has worked with charities over the years and has spoken to the media about his experiences as an asylum seeker in the UK.

He fears that some international students will be less likely to speak out against the world’s cruelties and fight for change if the UK government is not prepared to protect them.

“I think it is going to damage us as students who pride ourselves on creating change. If we know our life is going to be in danger and there is no one to help us, I don’t think anyone would try to create a positive change,” Pordale remarks.

The BBC reports that around 130,000 students and their families will be contacted by the government via text and email and told they will be removed from the UK if they overstay their visas. It is believed that 10,000 international students have already been contacted.

The full message will 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.”

Rose Stephenson, director of policy at the Higher Education Policy Institute, points out that public confidence in the international student system relies on visa rules being upheld, including that students return home when their visas expire.

But she adds: “We must recognise that there will inevitably be genuine asylum cases – for instance, one imagines that some of the 40 Gazan students soon to study in the UK may have valid grounds for not returning. 

“The government therefore faces a dual responsibility: ensuring that the visa system remains robust, while also making clear that international students are welcome here.”

Despite the political and media focus on small boat crossings, 41,100 asylum claims in the year to June 2025 came from people who had entered the UK legally with a visa. The largest group among these is students at 16,000 last year, which is nearly six times as many as in 2020.

Cooper claimed there are people who are claiming asylum “even when things haven’t changed in their home country” and that it “causes problems with asylum accommodation and hotels”.

Jon Featonby, senior policy analyst at Refugee Council, says: “It’s wrong to suggest that people who arrive on a visa and then apply for asylum are abusing the system and do not have a genuine need for protection. 

“We know from our frontline services that some students arrive here on a visa, looking forward to studying in Britain, but then their situation changes dramatically in their home country and it’s no longer safe for them to return home. Think of Ukrainians who were already living and studying in the UK when Russia invaded. 

“In other situations, people seeking asylum only feel safe enough to ask for protection once they reach the UK because they fear reprisal or surveillance in their home country.”

Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, calls it “yet another example of this government attempting to scare people who have come to this country”. He says that it is a “heavy-handed, draconian move, reminiscent of Theresa May’s ‘Go Home Vans’, designed to only further dehumanise migrants”.

Pordale believes that Labour has lost support from student communities as a result of “right-wing” policies, such as those around immigration and asylum. “It’s like asylum seekers are being used as a scapegoat, like something that is dangerous to society,” Pordale says.

He believes the government should “stand against people who are abusing the system”, but he warns that current rhetoric risks “fuelling” hate and violence against asylum seekers amid right-wing protests. He has felt “tensions” even at the University of Warwick, which he believes is the “best place for international students to study”.

“They shouldn’t use language that fuels violence,” Pordale says of the government’s rhetoric. “They shouldn’t use language that kind of attacks people. Students seeing this would be more scared to even think about applying.”

International students can bring a wealth of culture and knowledge to Britain, and universities also need them financially. Around one in six universities get more than a third of their total income from international students, according to Channel 4 analysis. 

Featonby, of the Refugee Council, says: “Britain has a proud tradition of offering sanctuary to those fleeing danger and the government should focus on ensuring the asylum system makes fair, timely decisions about who can stay in the UK and who must leave, rather than casting doubt unfairly on people trying to gain an education.”

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