Hey @EmmaHardyMP int' students are more than the contributions we bring to the UK! You said: "international students have been ignored which is bad because they contribute so much; not just fees but also diversity and cultural richness". @UnisNotBorders unpacks your mess. 1/1

On 10 August 2020 @UnisNotBorders & @migrants_rights CCed @EmmaHardyMP into a letter endorsed by over 500 lecturers, students (Home & int') unions & activists groups demanding #TuitionFeeAmnestyNOW b/c of the precarity that int' students are facing: https://migrantsrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tuition-Fee-Amnesty-Letter-from-URBC-and-MRN-PDF-1-1.pdf
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The points outlined in our letter for #TuitionFeeAmnestyNOW came from a joint study @UnisNotBorders & @migrants_rights did during the 1st lockdown which found that 56% of international students were either destitute or at risk of destitution: https://migrantsrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Effects-Of-Covid19-On-Tier-4-International-students-Report-Aug-2020.pdf
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It's been six months & @EmmaHardyMP as shadow minister for education has FAILED to even answer our letter. We even asked @stephenctimms to ask you respond to our letter, but it seems that didn't work either. Perhaps we should have tried a carrier pigeon instead email? 1/4

At least @michelledonelan did respond, although it did take her over three months. It seems that reading comprehension is severely lacking within the @Conservatives since none of our points in the #TuitionFeeAmnestyNOW letter were even addressed: https://www.unisresistbordercontrols.org.uk/2020/11/29/michellemocksstudents-minster-of-state-for-universities-responds-to-urbcs-tuitionfeeamnestynow-for-international-students/ 1/5

It isn't that international students haven't communicated their concerns & worries; it's that the government led by the @Conservatives & the @UKLabour shadow cabinet itself has ignored & failed to take these issues on board. But why, you ask? @UnisNotBorders knows why! 1/6

When @EmmaHardyMP speaks of contribution, what she really means is ££. Int' students pay significantly higher tuition fees that subsides the costs for Home (British) students. Int' students paying higher tuition fees have always been a problem within UK higher education. 1/7

In the late 1970s, int' students launched tuition fee strikes in relation to the increase in tuition fee costs. Marketised higher education, where students are treated as a consumer have their base in how UK universities have historically exploited int' students for cash. 1/8

Then with the Blair & Brown governments, Home students found themselves having to pay increased tuition fees although nowhere near the rate of int' students fees. Meanwhile @UKLabour instituted more draconian immigration policy that would later be furthered by @Conservatives.1/9

For over 5 years, @UnisNotBorders has relentlessly spoken about & advocated to end the #HostileEnvironment; an immigration policy that affects all Tier 4 students & EU students without settled status. It is designed to create barriers to stop one from remaining in the UK. 1/10

Most international students (EU & non-EU) @UnisNotBorders have found are completely unaware of how #HostileEnvironment affects them until a situation happens (i.e. they can't pay their tuition fees) when they realise how their student status is interlinked with immigration. 1/11

Unsurprisingly, student union (SU) reps are also clueless as to how the #HostileEnvironment operates on campus. Even if an int' student goes to their SU for help, they often find the advice given is woefully inadequately because it fails to factor in immigration matters. 1/12

As @UnisNotBorders said many times before & during the #COVID19, international students are facing barriers because of:
1. UK's marketised HE system that treat international students like cash cows.
2. #HostileEnvironment policy.
3. No recourse to public funds (NRPF). 1/13

We have yet to see a minister or a shadow minister for universities properly address these issues. Instead @Conservatives & @UKLabour continue to see international students for the "contributions" argument, i.e. how much ££ they bring, rather than as exploited students. 1/14

Unfortunately, @nusuk hasn't done a good job in fighting for international student rights & has replicated the "contributions" argument that treat international students as numbers rather than well, students who lack protection & support. 1/15

And until all students work to end the #HostileEnvironment policy & border controls in general in addition to ending marketised higher education promoted by your Vice Chancellors & uni management that exploits you for your tuition & accommodation fees, nothing will change. 1/16