You can also download the minutes here. For updates on the campaign, check here.
Speakers: Robert Sharp (English PEN), Tony Benn, Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy (Black Students' Officer, NUS), Sean Vernell (UCU National Executive Committee)
Moderator: Des Freedman (Goldsmiths UCU)
Introduction (DF): If we think of this in context, we need to resist the massive cuts to Higher Education. This is also a question of civil liberties, as well as question around the purpose of education and why we're doing this. Right now, international students and their families are basically seen as responsible for terrorism. A recent example of this was the suspension Recent examples has been the suspension of visa applications from India, Nepal and Bangladesh (notably, countries with no connection to terrorism). More recently,Alan Johnson has been blaming international students for actually wanting to come to the UK to get a better life.
Robert Sharp: I recently learned the term 'Jeremiad' which is basically a prophecy of doom. I'm the campaigns manager for English Pen; we're one of the oldest human rights organisations; we're older than Amnesty International. We see human rights and free speech as indivisible. We were founded in 1921; our first president was John Downsworthy and our second was HG Wells. The PEN charter is the forerunner of the Human Rights Charter, particularly Article 19. Literature does know frontiers and there is a barrier to ideas. The barrier reads 'UK Border. Welcome'. UKBA have made universities the outpost of the border agency. We're living in a reactionary climate where migrants are seen as a threat and an economic burden.
I recently interviewed Thomas Mapfumo, who is the most influential singer in Zimbabwe; in past years he has been critical of Mugabe, who threatened him and threw him out; he sought asylum in the US. When Mapfumo came to the UK, he was turned away. The Home Office and now UKBA has been given one single directive, which is to keep people out, even though this might contradict the UK's own foreign policy.
The Arts Council has had to intervene on behalf of certain artists. A student from New Zealand was mistakenly listed as being from Japan and didn't get her visa. The term the military uses for these situations is 'clusterfuck' - which means multiple things going wrong due to incompetence and lack of communication. UKBA is only accountable to the Home Secretary, and BIS has no input into the policies. When the border police turn people away, then the message people get is 'don't bother'. One aspect of a multicultural society is that we are changed through exposure to other ideas; as Hanif Kureishi says, 'purity is incestuous'. Everyone will be churning on immigration during the election. We're in a situation where you can't see your favourite artist or novelist speak, and that's a shame.
Tony Benn: When you come to study, you meet people from other countries and that enlarges your point of view. People leave with good memories of the UK, and this shouldn't be wrecked by xenophobia. If you work at the university and your job is to supervise foreign students, you shouldn't have to act as immigration police. I support your campaign, and will talk about how you win it. You need to put pressure on government. We're all approaching an election, which means that all candidates are a bit sensitive. We have to remember that politicians are our employees. Unity around a particular issue is important (such as fair play for foreign students) otherwise we'll end up with lots of tiny factions. We also need to think about what kind of mechanisms we've got. We need to intervene in the media. As Gandhi said, if you have an idea for progressive change you're first ignored, then they say you're mad, then they lock you up, and when you win all the people at the top said they were thinking the same as you all along.
Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy: The NUS is trying to marginalise the role of international student officers; they are giving advice but not much more than that. The government is also playing into racism through knee-jerk reaction policies. They rushed through the visa scheme, with little consideration of how institutions would deal with it. International students are not given the same respect and report as home students, although with the amount of money they pay, they should expect that. We're now moving towards a 2-tier visa system (as in the fast track renewal if you have the money), and a 2-tier education system.
The ID card scheme will affect black students, as they're most likely to be asked for ID cards. ID cards are subject to high levels of fraud, which will cost the government lots of money. If we don't stand up to the government, we're engaging in racism. It's important to not be scared to take a stand, and remember that we are all one student community.
Sean Vernell: There's a phrase,'the barbarians are coming', which aptly describes the situation. This is really about racism and fear of the other, and divide and rule tactic. The economy is in such a mess because we are supposedly too lazy in the public sector, which diverges from the real cause of the problem. As lecturers we are not immigration officers. There's also a lot of fear being spread about 'extremists in our midst'.
In the Guardian, there was an article about thousands of job losses, because of a 900m cut in HE, a 200 cut in adult education. This could mean the loss of 20,000 jobs in HE and FE, which will mean hundreds of student places to go, and people from deprived backgrounds will be the ones who will be affected. There was a recent statistic about 50% of young black people unemployed. This is is really about unfinished business from the Thatcher era. From 1964 to 1973 there were only 3 education acts passed; from 1973-present there were 35 education acts passed, which have tried to roll back what has been gained from the 60s. However, there is resistance to this, such as Tower Hamlets College; Leeds University have just balloted and we should support them. There's a march on the 20th of March to defend jobs and education.
Comments:
At Goldsmiths, they take a lot of money from students and have increased the fees, asking students to pay more and more. What is Goldsmiths management doing about the rules? The College needs to stand up publicly against the rules as their silence is not helpful.
I've been refused a visa and lost £2600 in travel costs. It's been 7 months and I have been in touch with MPs, but with no luck. On the phone line you're charged £1.20/minute, and you're on hold for 20 minutes.
There are a lot of students from the Philippines, India and China who are experiencing the same thing. People have been dealing with agencies back home and are being turned down. What support is there? People are told to talk to the embassies of their own countries, but the embassies are reluctant as they don't want to step on the toes of the UK government.
Nothing will happen unless we do step on the toes!
The student from New Zealand has got her money back and is coming next year.
Please email us your stories as we're going to compile it all in a big file.We eventually want to see a boycott of registers.
I'm an admin worker at London Met. We have to sort through who is on the 'rich list' of various countries. ID cards are being rolled out for people aged 18-24.
How do we deal with the cross-party consensus on 'getting tough on immigration', when Gordon Brown uses phrases such as 'British Jobs for British Workers', or the stereotyping of overseas students as spoilt middle-class 'cash cows' (which will make it hard to get public sympathy)?
There's a campaign for mothers fleeing countries of origin who are separated from their families, and the children are left behind, often for years. You can't have your children with you unless you have a big bank account. Foreigners are not seen as wanted any more. We want the automatic right to family reunion.
If the Tories get in, then things will get worse. They have the idea that students should pay a deposit, then pick it up if they go home.
There's a meeting with the Warden on Wednesday where these issues will be discussed; everyone should attend.
The Manifesto Club has a report coming out on Wednesday. The more material we have, the more we can create debate.
Responses:
Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy: We need to do things immediately. There's a hardship fund, but international students can access it. We need to make sure they can access the hardship fund.
Robert Sharp: Politicians are not very good at standing up to the Daily Mail and reactionary forces, so you need to start from the ground up.
Tony Benn: People succeed at campaigns through these kinds of meetings.
