Claire Laker-Mansfield, Socialist Students national organiser
A court ruling has granted a partial reprieve to over 2,000 international students at London Met who had been threatened with deportation.
This followed the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) earlier decision to revoke the university’s licence to teach those from outside the EU.
The 22 September ruling allows London Met to seek a judicial review. The result is that international students will be able to remain for one year or until the end of their courses if they are due to finish before the end of the summer.
Socialist Students welcomes this decision, which represents a partial victory for the excellent campaign waged by London Met’s staff and students to stop deportations and reverse the UKBA’s license revocation.
But this is not the end of the road. The court’s decision leaves open the possibility of deportations taking place in one year’s time and gives no guarantees that London Met will be able to recruit international students for next September.
Huge campaign needed
The need for a strong campaign, fighting for full restoration of the licence, is still needed. Both international and home students currently arriving for freshers week need to be ready to build a huge campaign to defend London Met and the right for all to study.
In addition, the campaign must take up the threat of a huge programme of cuts and privatisation being made by the university. We must not allow vital support services to be handed over to the profiteers.
The demonstration held on Friday 29 September, attended by over 60 people, showed real potential to build the fightback and gather new momentum in the autumn term.
In many ways the government is attempting to use London Met as a test case for some of their most destructive policies in higher education.
This is made possible by a university management who is willing to carry out the Con-Dems’ every whim.
For this reason the struggle to defend London Met is central to the battle to defend higher education against the government’s general assault.
The campaign should be a national priority for the National Union of Students. This fight isn’t over.
