- Conference
- 2026 National Higher Education Conference
- Date
- 9 October 2025
- Decision
- Carried
The government’s immigration white paper rests on a dangerous presumption: that international students of today may seek asylum tomorrow. This framing is not evidence-based policy, but an attempt to appease the far right’s narrow and racially divisive agenda. To cast students as potential “abusers” of the system is both false and dehumanising, undermining the values of openness, inquiry, and care that universities should uphold.
For many international students, higher education is more than study. It is a transformative experience of discovery, freedom, and growth, just as it is for home students. Yet for some—especially LGBT+ students from countries where their identity is criminalised—returning home after study can mean real danger. Education should be a pathway to safety and opportunity, not a political weapon used to restrict and exclude.
Seeking asylum is never a decision taken lightly. It is a last resort, often requiring the reliving of trauma, and pursued only when no other path to safety remains. For most, the first choice is to build a future through education—gaining skills, qualifications, and the freedom that comes with them. By ignoring this reality, the white paper reduces education to a tool of exclusion and fuels divisive, racist narratives that we must reject.
Call on the Service group executive
1)Campaign to defend international students and the right to seek asylum.
2)Work with Labour Link to bring this campaign to the attention of MPs and the government.