In the period between 2021 and 2023, 1,425 overseas students who were accepted to British universities were turned away at the nation’s airports. A total of 161 Nigerians were impacted since they were turned away at airports all around the United Kingdom. Based on information exclusively received from the UK Home Office under the Freedom of Information Act, India led the list of foreign students affected, accounting for 644, or 45% of the total, with Nigeria coming in second with 11.3%. Bangladesh is ranked fourth with 90 (6.32 percent) and Ghana is ranked third with 92 (6.46 percent).
The data that has been made public, spanning from October 2021 to October 2023, is restricted to students who were turned away at the airports. It excludes foreign students who have been deported by the Home Office due to visa violations, such as working more than 20 hours per week and engaging in academic dishonesty. The Home Office withheld the explanation for the foreign students’ expulsion. The students’ failure to persuade Border Force officials during airport security checks, their presentation of falsified documentation, and their poor command of the English language were among the factors contributing to these choices.
In a September 2023 post on X, North London, UK-based immigration attorney Dele Olawanle denounced the mistreatment of students and urged the UK Government to take action against Border Force officials who, in his words, had turned themselves into admissions officers. Olawanle bemoaned the fact that three students who had been threatened with removal at the airports had come to him for assistance three hours later.
He added, “By asking students entering the UK to start their course on some aspects of the course they are going to start, UK border officers have turned themselves into university officials at the point of entry.” If they don’t respond correctly, some of them are expelled from the UK and their visas are terminated. Sadness! In the past 24 hours, I have received three instructions on that. It is not their responsibility because the majority of these students had interviews with the university prior to receiving course placement offers. Since the majority of these Border Force officers have never attended college, they are unfit to assess the academic background of these international students.
“I have dealt with them for the past 24 years, so I can say this. Making sure the pupils receive entry clearance legitimately is their responsibility. Be ready for immigration authorities to pose as university examiners if you are a new student starting a study.” Nelly Okechukwu, a data analyst, too related his story of how he almost avoided security at one of the airports. “A border officer asked for my transcript, which I presented, and this lady started asking me to tell her about a course I studied in my 200-level at the university,” the author wrote after the 16-hour flight. an institution from which I graduated in 2012.”
Student admissions
The Higher Education Statistics Agency reports that during the 2021–2022 academic year, 679,970 international students were admitted to UK universities. 44,195 of the 68,320 African citizens studying in the UK for the 2021–2022 academic year came from Nigeria, making it the country with the largest number of international students. According to HESA data, the number of Nigerian students increased to 72,355 for the 2022–2023 academic year. The figure is attributed to students who enrolled between August 1, 2022, and July 31, 2023.
According to an SBM Intelligence investigation, Nigerian students and their dependents in the UK made an estimated £1.9 billion in economic contributions in a single year. The academic year 2021–2022 was covered by the data. In the academic year 2021–2022, foreign students made a £41.9 billion contribution to the UK economy, according to the data. The country’s umbrella organisation for institutions, institutions UK International, stated it was unable to comment on the student removal data. In response, the organisation stated that the number of immigrants with student visas who were turned away at the border was significantly lower than the number who were accepted.
“Neither the government nor its sponsors are us. We are unable to comment as we do not have any information on this, however we are providing the background information below for perspective.Home Office data for the year ending in March of 2021–2024 indicates that 1,541,837 study visas were awarded to principal applicants during that time. If the figures provided are accurate, the proportion of individuals without study visas in the UK would be less than 0.01%. We are unable to comment on the grounds for rejection or the next steps, as that will depend on the particulars of each instance.” According to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, it has not received any reports from students who were turned away at airports in the United Kingdom.
Abdulrahman Balogun, a commission spokesman, stated that “no student has ever reported being rejected at the port of entry for no just cause.” According to Mr. Emmanuel Gbadega, Director of Story Across Globe, a foreign education consulting organisation, an immigrant or foreign student may be turned away at the port of entry if they are unable to articulate their purpose for being in the nation. Gbadega stated that the Border Force may refuse and send anyone who appeared suspicious back home.
“They have been doing that for many years,” he remarked. If the Border Force suspects you are not coming to study, they may refuse you if you appear suspicious. The pupils might not have passed the interview or been accepted due to their incapacity.”
Gbadega clarified that by informing the university of their dispute, any international student who was turned away at the port of entry might get a refund from his university. Adeola Oyinlade, an immigration attorney, commented on the situation and charged NIDCOM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria with being concerned about the expulsion of Nigerian students from foreign airports. In order to avoid a 10-year suspension, he further commanded any student who was turned away from a foreign country to respect that judgement. Dr. Yemi Opemuti, an additional immigration attorney, stated that the Border Force did not violate any laws when it removed the impacted students, but that they did retain the authority to grant or deny entry into their nation.
Opemuti asserts that access into a country is not guaranteed by possession of a visa and that a visa may be revoked at the port of entry by customs or immigration officials. “A visa that you receive from your country of origin is conditional and dependent on customs or immigration officials in your country of destination approving it. Depending on how a migrant responds to an interview at the point of entry, their visa may be cancelled. “They have the right to deny you entry or deport you if you cannot give them convincing answers to their queries,” he stated.
Our journalist emailed the UK Home Affairs and British High Commission in Nigeria on August 14; neither agency responded. Since the policy prohibiting dependents from entering the UK on student visas went into effect in January 2024, there has been a significant decrease in the number of Nigerians travelling there to pursue higher education. Also, many Nigerians found it more difficult to afford to send themselves or their children to study in the UK as a result of the naira’s devaluation, which raised the exchange rate.