‘Students are not permanent migrants’ UEL tells David Cameron

The University of East London (UEL) has joined others urging the government to remove overseas students from net migration statistics.

Vice-chancellor Professor Patrick McGhee has added his name to letter asking the government to draw a line between temporary and permanent migrants.

The letter has been signed by 70 other university academics and vice-chancellors.

Mr McGhee said: “As a university, we are rightly proud that our student population is extremely diverse with representation from more than 120 countries across the world.

On that basis, we stand firmly behind this lobbying effort, and sincerely hope that David Cameron takes heed of our concerns about the impact of his government’s immigration policy on international students.”

Mark Stephens, chairman of the UEL’s board of governors, said he had no hestitation in signing the letter.

While we welcome the measures that the government has taken to improve border controls, and counter any abuse of the student visa route, international students also bring long-term political and social benefits to this country,” he added.