Lord Taverne QC: Immigrants should be encouraged to study at British universities, not turned away

Polls show that immigration is an issue of widespread concern. But public concern is not about immigrant students whom most people welcome. They know how much foreign students benefit Britain. Industry needs them.  They bring in billions to the Treasury. They enrich the quality (and income) of our universities.
 
Nevertheless government policies often seem to ignore these benefits and make foreign students feel they are not welcome - strict visa requirements for instance and a high minimum earnings requirement for those who want to stay after graduation. Another minor example, which few know about, causes despair and injustice to a particularly vulnerable and deserving group of young immigrants.  They are those who came to Britain as unaccompanied child refugees and who are denied a chance to go to university even if they do well at school,
 
When they arrive in Britain they are looked after by local authorities, who support their education and maintenance- until they are about to become adults, when they are seventeen and a half. Then they have to re-apply for asylum, if they were not granted asylum when they first arrived.  But how easily can seventeen year olds, who came here without parents and when they were very young, prove that they were fugitives from persecution?   If they are refused asylum, they are normally given “Discretionary Leave to Remain” (DLR), a status that effectively leaves them in limbo. Technically they can be subject to deportation, although this is seldom carried out. They are also allowed to earn, but only up to £36 a week. Bright youngsters who win a  place at university while they are still at school, find that they cannot take it up because since 2011 they are classified as “foreign students”, who have to pay £19,000 a year tuition fees plus their own maintenance.
 
Before 2011 they were treated as “home students”, who pay a maximum £9,000 tuition fees and are eligible for loans and bursaries that some universities provide.  Indeed some universities waive tuition fees altogether for poor “home students”.  What makes the new rules even more unjust and absurd is that in Wales the law did not change, while in Scotland no tuition fees are payable at all.
 
Recently I introduced a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Lords to reclassify students with DLR as home students.  It would cost the Treasury very little, because the numbers involved are hundreds per year rather than thousands.  Britain will gain because more university graduates will provide the skills we desperately need. Talented young people who have gone through a terrible experience will have the chance of a better life. But there is no chance that my Bill will reach the statute book without government support.  Only Private Members’ Bills that win a high place in a ballot have any chance of success and mine came 43rd out of 44.   
 
Pressure should be put on the government from every quarter to restore the position as it was before 2011.  As the law stands it has no rhyme or reason. It not only denies young people the fundamental tight to education but cannot be justified on any economic or social grounds.