Visa Boycott Welcomed by Students

The FOSIS, also known as the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, in the UK have welcomed the decision to boycott the new visa intrusive rules. This boycott was a decision that came from the Universities and College Union.

This new emigration rule makes all the education institutions accountable for all overseas students. This means that the universities are suppose to store a copy of all foreign students' passports and report them if they choose to drop out or miss lectures.

Also, under the Tier 4 emigration system, all colleges and universities will need a UK Border Agency license in order to teach any students from outside the European Economic Area. In order to get this licenses, these colleges and universities have to show they are audited, inspected, or hold a valid accreditation with one of the UK Border Agency approved accreditation bodies.

However, on May 29, the Universities and College Union voted that they would ignore this new legislation, calling the whole thing discriminatory, as well as an attack on the civil liberties of intergenerational students.

Right now, there are 240,000 non-EU students in Britain. A spokesman for the Federation of Student Islamic Societies said that the role of any higher education institution is to ensure that they are able to provide an environment that will nurture, as well as support, students. This allows them to excel in their academic fields. He went on to say that, in recent years, many efforts have been made to employ universities as a way to help control emigration and terrorism. These institutions are not equipped to handle this kind of duty.