Arrested, humiliated, detained: How Britain treats foreign students
Article updated: See below
Of all the things that happened to Dr Paul Hamilton, the most troubling is that the authorities didn't tell him his visa application was rejected.
Originally from the US, Hamilton spent years in Britain as a Shakespearian academic, completing his PhD and setting up various conferences, as well as giving lectures and working on educational podcasts. When his course ended last summer, he applied for leave to remain. It was rejected. But no-one told him.
The decision to remove was taken on December 9th. December passed with no word from the Home Office about his application. As far as Hamilton knew, it was still to be decided. Then, on January 17th, police turned up at his door. They had held onto the letter of rejection until the maximum period of six months had passed and then swooped in to arrest him. There was no warning. There had been no demand for him to leave the country. The first Hamilton even knew of the rejection was when the police turned up at his house and arrested him.
No comments:
Post a Comment