Today I have written to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, requesting that the ban on study visas to people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan is reversed. The letter reads:
 

Dear Shabana Mahmood,

I am writing today as I am deeply troubled by your recent decision to stop issuing study visas to people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, and to stop offering skilled worker visas to Afghans.

Basing your decision on so-called “abuse” of the asylum system is completely immoral. People from countries in conflict that enter the country legally and then claim asylum are not abusing the system, they are appropriately using a system designed to provide safety to people fleeing conflict.

This is the latest move in a trend of appeasement to anti-migrant voices on the political right, but it is not worth the very human cost and impact on people's families and futures. Asylum is a human right, and denying asylum to people in conflict zones will leave them in danger of harm, and potentially even death.

We in the UK are lucky to have not experienced violence at home for close to a century, we should be using this privilege to help those less fortunate. Furthermore, those able to secure study visas are the best and brightest in the world; they not only have a right to asylum, but they also benefit our country by being here.

I am asking you to lift the ban as soon as possible, and reassess your overall stance on international students and migrants more generally, including by reversing the introduction of the international student levy and the restrictions on the graduate route visa.

I know many international student leaders have been extremely keen to talk to you about this, so please contact the National Union of Students at megan.thomas@nus.org.uk to set up a meeting between you, NUS, and international student leaders.

Yours sincerely,
Avery Greatorex