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Marina, student from Russia: As one of the international students who is effected by the situation, I’m very concerned because I stand the risk of being deported from the country, which is very unfair.What are you going to do? Have you applied to other courses yet?
I have, yes and hopefully I’ll be OK because I’ve already got a BA and an MA from the University of Westminster. This is my second post grad degree in human rights and social justice and I’ve got perfect attendance record.So you’re not a terrorist. What do you think of the stories about bad attendance, dodgy visas and students not being able to speak English at London Met?
I do not know all the students, but it is quite strange because when you apply for a visa you are supposed to provide a proof, some sort of certificate that proves your level of English.What will you do if you do get deported?
This is a very weird question. I cannot predict the future, but I will not give up this fight, no way.

Well I was, but now I represent international students here in the UK.So what brought you down here today?
The government is continuing to attack international students, there’s tens of thousands of them and the only way they can do this is by reducing international student numbers by placing severe restrictions on their rights. I think what’s happening at London Met is just a sign of a wider thing, but it’s also really the turning point, the breaking point for many international students who feel bad about how they’re being treated.
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Well, I sure hope this is the end of the wider policy of kicking them out, but I think this is the start of a long fight.Do you think its anti-immigration or possibly even racist policy? A lot of people here today do.
Yes, yeah I think there’s a lot of subliminal racism when we talk about immigration, and it’s a shame no one is standing up. It’s easy to blame immigrants when the economy is rough but it’s not easy to find another solution.As a Brazilian, what was it that brought you to the UK originally?
I don’t know, the UK just always had a great international reputation, but it's one that I’m afraid to say it doesn’t have any more.

Bellolukman: I am one the student committee, I’m the vice president of the welfare and diversity department. The lives of a lot of our students have been put in danger.Do you think it’s a racist policy, like a lot of people have been saying today, rather than an issue of legality?
It’s racist. It’s politically motivated. They say they want to fulfill their political promises when they are campaigning and they want to reduce immigration. But they are doing it blindly, just attacking people that are in this country legally.What do you think about the stories of bad attendance, students not speaking English, etc.?
Yeah, I don’t know if I’m speaking a language different from English [laughs] and if these students are a large percentage, but I don’t know where they are getting these statistics. Before we even get our visa to come to the UK from our country, we must do an English test.
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They are using London Met as a testing ground. If they succeed there, all the universities in the UK will be in for it, because it is hard on the UK education and this is one of the things we are fighting against. We have trust in the higher education of the UK, which is why we come here.What do you think the future is for international students in the UK?
Well to me, with this coalition government, there is no future for international student in this country.



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