Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Britain began warning overseas students they risked being deported if they overstayed in response to what the government claimed was an "alarming" surge in asylum claims from people who entered the country on student visas.
Ten thousand international students with visas that are about to run out have received texts and emails from the Home Office as part of an initiative to tackle the problem of people using the higher education system as a means of migrating to the United Kingdom.
In all, about 130,000 students and their families are set to receive messages saying that if they have "no legal right to remain," they must leave the country and that if they do not, the government will find and deport them.
Home Office data indicated that at least 14,800 of the more than 110,000 people who claimed asylum in the 12 months to June arrived legally with a university study visa, a six-fold increase since 2020. That compares with 26,000 who arrived with another type of visa and the 43,600 asylum applicants who arrived on a small boat.
Related
