We have written an open letter to Teeside University, to express our shock at their treatment of international students, and to demand that these students be reinstated immediately.
The international students, most of them Nigerian nationals, have been unjustly reported to the Home Office by the University and now face deportation. These students have been systematically misled and let down by the University at every stage.
Nigerian students were particularly affected as a result of the currency crisis in Nigeria, with no recognition of exceptional circumstances from Teesside University. Teeside failed to implement its multi-step missed payment policy, changed payment schedules midway through degree courses, failed to reinstate students who have since paid their fees in full, despite assurances that they would be reinstated if they made these payments, and reported students to debt collection agencies despite having offered payment extensions.
The University’s actions have had a significant and ongoing impact on students’ mental health, as a result of stress and the precarity of their presence in the UK. We call on Teesside University to take immediate steps to rectify this, including: reinstating international students, immediately contact the Home Office to withdraw the previous notification of unenrolment of these students and urgently requesting that the visa cancellation and deportation processes be stopped, and implementing a flexible payment policy that accounts for students’ extenuating circumstances.
Read and sign the open letter by clicking here.
Find out more about our work on international students here.