Student affected by Home Office injustice speaks to Guardian podcast

Student affected by Home Office injustice speaks to Guardian podcast

On 30 April, the Guardian published a podcast looking at the injustice facing thousands of international students. Amelia Gentleman, Guardian journalist who has been covering this story over the last couple of weeks, and 'Hussain', MV member and one of the students affected, spoke about the Home Office decision to revoke the visas of tens of thousands of students after accusing them of cheating on an English test, and the impact it had on their lives.

Hussain spoke about how the test was very easy and how he had no need or wish to use a proxy.

"If I am confident about myself, that I can speak in English, why would I trust someone else to do my job?" he said.

Reflecting on the day he found out about the allegation, Hussain said: “The moment you sent that letter to me, I lost my dignity. I am living a life that is not worth living at the moment. I’m in an open jail.”

“For me that strong belief in law and order is still there, that’s why I’m fighting," he said. "Allow us to prove ourselves, because at the moment we’re going nowhere, it’s a dark tunnel without any hope of light.”

Amelia Gentleman spoke about the broader context of the issue, linking this injustice to the hostile environment policies introduced in 2014 and to the Conservative government's net migration target.

Listen to the podcast here.