On 23 June, the Independent published an article about MV member Mahe Henadeerage, who came to the UK as an international student in the hope of being able to work in the UK after graduating on a post-study work visa. But the month before she finished her course in 2012, the government scrapped that visa, leaving her plans in ruins. Most others would have just gone home but Mahe decided to stay and fight the Home Office - seven years later, she's still fighting.
“I feel like my entire future has been robbed," she told the Independent's Eleanor Busby. "The best part of my 20s have been in limbo fighting for something that should’ve been an obvious solution."
Our Director Nazek Ramadan also spoke to the journalist, saying: “If this government is serious about attracting international students – and we would remind them that they contribute far more to our country than cash – the insular, anti-migrant logic underpinning all UK immigration policy must be replaced with an open-minded attitude and a set of policies to match, starting with this visa.”