英国驱逐2500名外国学生

A university in London is taking the British Government to court over plans to deport 2,500 overseas students.

The London Metropolitan University is challenging the UK Border Agency’s decision to revoke the university’s licence to sponsor students from outside the European Union. As Richard Bestic reports from London, the decision means those students have two months to find another college or be deported.

On the streets outside their university, students gather names to fight the government’s ruling. The UK’s border agency saying an audit found serious problems with more than half the college’s foreign students and immediately revoked its licence.

Malcolm Gillies, vice chancellor of London Metropolitan University, says, "And that’s got real on this...we are dealing with process, we couldn’t sustain 10% of them, couldn’t be here, reasonale and equitable way. That’s what we got to challenge."

A direct consequence of the UK Government’s ruling, many of the college’s 30,000 students have little less than eight weeks to switch university or be sent home.

One student says, "I’m very angry, call me and cry everyday."

Another student says, "Most of our students at home and int’l have to work, working instead of studying."

Higher Education is an import export industry in Britain, bringing in $20 billion dollars a year. But student numbers are added to the immigration total … inevitably say critics creating a collision between the worlds of politics and academia.

Malcolm Gillies also says, "I think it would depend on how you process, we’re doing the right thing by our students as part of higher education."

The government maintain some students had no permission to stay in the UK, others couldn’t speak English well enough, while others still weren’t turning up for lectures.

The consequences of the government losing this challenge are huge, it would require a root and branch overhaul on its entire policy for students coming to the UK. Should they win, the negative image overseas of the UK’s lucrative higher education system will be equally damaging.