A POSTGRADUATE student at the University of Stirling has said his “family is suffering” after being held at an immigration centre for seven weeks and having his visa cancelled.
Muhammad Rauf Waris was arrested and detained by immigration workers after being accused of breaching the conditions of his visa by working more than the legally permitted 20 hours per week.
He is currently being held at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre and has asserted that he was following all requirements, attending his classes and completing all assignments.
Waris was also reportedly detained despite handing over all his payslips which proved he had not worked over the 20-hour limit.
Despite this, the Court denied his application for bail and he has been left in Dungavel awaiting a decision on whether his case can be judicially reviewed.
He said he is experiencing emotional distress and declining physical and mental health as a result of having been detained.
“I don’t want even my worst enemy to face this kind of mental torture that I am facing at the moment, as my health is very bad since I have been here”, he said.
“I can’t eat anything and whatever I am eating, I am vomiting next minute. I am mentally down and out, and I am not the only one – my family is suffering because of this unlawful detention.”
The National has approached the Home Office for comment.
An open letter calling for the case to be reviewed and for all the evidence to be “properly considered” currently has more than 300 signatures.
President of the National Union of Students Scotland Ellie Gomersall said: “This is the Home Office’s hostile environment policy in action. The student has been unnecessarily and inhumanely detained for seven weeks and denied bail despite his declining mental health and his ability to provide proof that he has not exceeded the legal limits of how much he can work.
“The cap of 20 hours on the amount international students can work is part of the inhumane hostile environment imposed by this UK Government.
“In the worst cost-of-living crisis seen in decades, many students need to work more than this simply to be able to afford to eat and pay rent. Denying that right to international students is why 21% of those in Scotland have experienced homelessness.
“NUS demands that the student is immediately released on bail while his case is properly and fairly reviewed, and we want to see the end of the cruel immigration and asylum policies which play with the lives of vulnerable people for cheap political point-scoring.”
A number of organisations, including Amnesty International, have said they are growing increasingly concerned about the student’s health and the impact it is having on him, according to a report from the World Health Organisation.
