Tejas Soni first arrived to the UK from India in 2009 to complete his MBA at the London School of Accounting and Management, a college that had it's license revoked by the Home Office and he was subsequently advised by his solicitor to apply to another college. But in the pursuit of completing his education, he found himself being caught in the allegations of cheating in an English speaking exam, being thrown into detention centres and even today looking for a job while simultaneously seeking for justice.
“You open the window for international students to come and study here but then you keep changing immigration rules and closing down the colleges. Is that our fault?” asks Tejas.
Tejas, like many other international students, had to hop from one college to another in order to complete his degree as the Home Office was closing down various colleges. But this resulted in a financial drain of about £21,000, legal hassle, and additionally, he was also embroiled in an emotional battle where his marriage broke down over allegations of cheating in the TOEIC exam- an English speaking exam made mandatory for students from outside of the EU.
“It is the considered opinion of the Home Office that you have utilised deception to gain leave to remain in the United Kingdom,” read the letter which accused him of cheating in the English language test. “I must inform you that you have no lawful basis of stay in the United Kingdom and that you should make arrangements to leave without delay,” the letter continued.
E-mailing Boris Johnson and Theresa May but no response?
Having received the letter from the Home Office which classified him as an immigration offender and informing him about the curtailment of his visa without providing any evidence, he decided to send out e-mails to Government officials expecting for authorities to address to his miserable situation.
“In September 2014, I emailed the Prime Minister David Cameron, Home Secretary Theresa May and even Boris Johnson telling them about my situation and asking for assistance,” says Tejas.
But aside from receiving a call from the police, Tejas says, he never received any other aid and instead in December 2014, found both the Home Office officials and police standing at the doorstep of his Shaftesbury Road house.
“They asked me for my passport, questioned me around TOEIC exams and took me into custody for 18 hours,” says Tejas.
“I had to borrow clothes from my friend after being released from the detention centre”
But he was then straightaway shipped to Dover Detention Centre and subsequently to the Gatwick Brooke House Detention Centre where in total he spent about 11 months. Fighting suicidal thoughts and being prescribed to anti-depressants by the centre's medical team, Tejas was finally released in following the court orders.
“The day I was released from the detention centre I had nothing but £200 that I had earned from working at the dentention centre. I borrowed clothes from my friend and then went to a charity shop to buy a few pairs of clothes,” he recalls.
Today following his release, he returned to India in the hope of appealing against the Home Office's mistake from there, without a job and a wife who wants to re-unite with him but only on the grounds of financial stability.
Home Office failed to protect those who did not cheat: NAO report
Recently, National Audit Office (NAO), a government watchdog after conducting an investigation into the Home Office's conduct over scrapping visas for the international students has released a report where it has critised the Home Office for failing to protect them.
About 2,500 students have been forcibly removed from the UK after being accused of cheating in the exam and a further 7,200 left the country after being warned that they faced detention and removal if they stayed. Many have protested their innocence; 12,500 appeals have been heard in UK courts, and so far 3,600 people have won their appeals.
“When the Home Office acted vigorously to exclude individuals and shut down colleges involved in the English language test cheating scandal, we think they should have taken an equally vigorous approach to protecting those who did not cheat but who were still caught up in the process, however small a proportion they might be. This did not happen,” said Sir Amyas Morse, the head of the NAO.
“The Home Office did not have the expertise to validate the results,” the report said. “We could find no evidence that the department had actively looked at whether innocent people were wrongly assessed as cheats,” the report noted.
Migrant Voice, a charity led by Nazek Ramadan, has been at the forefront of the campaign supporting these international students.
“The report clearly proves what we have long suspected – that the Home Office, led by Theresa May, failed to scrutinise the evidence given to them by the testing company and shockingly chose to accept it at face value, despite multiple significant flaws in the data,” said Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice.
The Home Secretary, Sajid Javed is expected to make a statement at the House of Commons after reviewing NAO's report as soon as Parliament resumes early next week.
