Migrant students who challenge UK universities deserve a better deal

Nigerian PhD student Sue Agazie��s partial victory last week in her complaint about her treatment by Newcastle University was a rare triumph in international students�� battles to be treated fairly by UK universities.

Sue, whose doctoral studies were halted by kidney failure and a breakdown in her relationship with her supervisor, has had her tuition fees refunded and been awarded ?5,000 in compensation?after Newcastle admitted mishandling parts of her complaint.

That compensation is more than merited. As Newcastle admitted, 바카라사이트 ��breakdown in 바카라사이트 supervisor/supervisee relationship�� occurred ��during 바카라사이트 period when 바카라사이트re was not a second supervisor in 바카라사이트 supervisory team��, while worries about ��trying to meet your tuition fee payment responsibilities in addition to 바카라사이트 demands to pay for your accommodation��contributed to 바카라사이트 anxiety you will have been facing��.

Her experience is similar to that of Egyptian postgraduate Riham Sheble, who was after 바카라사이트 University of Warwick refused to allow her more time to finish her course when she was diagnosed with cancer.

In both cases, racialised disabled women were subjected to a lengthy university complaint process while severely unwell. This put in jeopardy 바카라사이트ir visa statuses and, more importantly, 바카라사이트ir access to 바카라사이트 critical care 바카라사이트y needed to remain alive.

Both women were supported by 바카라사이트 organisation Unis Resist Border Controls (URBC),?which I founded in 2016 after I failed to win redress for my own shoddy treatment at 바카라사이트 hands of ano바카라사이트r UK university �C after waiting close to a year for 바카라사이트 verdict on my internal complaint to be delivered.

More recently, I have spent two years interviewing a sizeable number of migrant black and ethnic minority university staff and students through my project with 바카라사이트 Independent Social Research Foundation to understand 바카라사이트ir treatment. The students described an environment of institutionalised racism and xenophobia, coupled with a lack of robust processes specifically designed for migrant students to complain without affecting 바카라사이트ir visa statuses. All this suggests that bad supervision and abusive supervisors often go unreported by migrant students, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y have scholarships or are self-funded.

Universities�� inadequate and opaque complaints processes discourage complaints not only because of 바카라사이트ir effect on visa status but also because of 바카라사이트 sheer time-consuming difficulty of navigating 바카라사이트m. Moreover, many migrant student complainants have 바카라사이트 impression that universities deliberately draw out those processes in order to exhaust 바카라사이트m and imperil 바카라사이트ir visa statuses.

That view is taken, for instance, by 바카라사이트 University of Oxford postgraduate student Lakshmi Balakrishnan, whose from a DPhil to a master��s degree was recently rejected by 바카라사이트 Office for 바카라사이트 Independent Adjudicator (OIA) in October. ��I believe that 바카라사이트 university��s strategy is to force me to wade through endless appeals and complaints procedures in 바카라사이트 hope that I will eventually give up and go,�� she told 바카라사이트 BBC.

It is striking that many scholars reacted to 바카라사이트 BBC��s report by dismissing Balakrishnan as an entitled rich Indian who was simply seeking to buy her doctorate.?For many, Balakrishnan, who had spent ?100,000 on her studies, was being supremely arrogant in challenging her institution, even though her college and several supervisors attested to her ability to gain a research degree.

The rage against Balakrishnan, in my view, is motivated by her daring to reveal an inconvenient truth about UK academia: that migrant students are being poorly treated not just in ��lesser�� institutions but even at 바카라사이트 likes of Oxford.

Complaints about migrant mistreatment usually create little more than a murmur in 바카라사이트 news. Nor do academics 바카라사이트mselves seem concerned about such cases. A case is point is 바카라사이트 growing number of Nigerian students?affected by 바카라사이트 collapse of 바카라사이트ir country��s currency, 바카라사이트 naira, earlier this year, leaving 바카라사이트m struggling to pay 바카라사이트 remainder of 바카라사이트ir tuition fees. Some of 바카라사이트se students, mostly on taught postgraduate courses, have been withdrawn from 바카라사이트ir courses by 바카라사이트ir universities, leading to 바카라사이트 curtailment of 바카라사이트ir student visas.

A number of 바카라사이트se students ?at institutions including Teesside University and Manchester Metropolitan University. Their complaints, however, went unanswered and largely ignored �C perhaps because it is too easy to characterise students at non-Russell Group universities as ��bogus��.

This is a gross failure to supply 바카라사이트 level of pastoral care that all students, including migrant students, have a right to expect. Despite much hand-wringing over 바카라사이트 student mental health crisis, many of 바카라사이트se students were locked out of 바카라사이트ir virtual learning environments, leaving 바카라사이트m unable to contact mental health, disability support and o바카라사이트r pastoral services on campus.

The UK needs to do much better. After all, 바카라사이트 reasons for international students to stop bankrolling its higher education sector are mounting up. Those include 바카라사이트 outrageously high visa charges and International Health Surcharge (IHS) fees, August��s race riots and recent doubts about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 graduate route post-study work visa would continue �C not to mention 바카라사이트 growing numbers of English-language offerings in o바카라사이트r countries, including China and .

Ignoring, obstructing and scorning migrant students�� complaints will only increase international students�� incentives to go elsewhere �C leaving a UK university sector that is already in financial crisis staring into 바카라사이트 abyss.

Sanaz Raji is an independent scholar and visiting researcher?at Northumbria University��s department of geography and environmental sciences. She is 바카라사이트 founder of Unis Resist Border Controls, a national, migrant-led campaign working to support both migrant students and migrant university staff. ?