SCOTLAND’s national student body has said it is a “huge relief” that detained Stirling University student Muhammad Raud Waris has been granted bail but said it is “not over”.
The National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland president, Ellie Gomersall, added that Waris’s case is “symptomatic of a wider problem”, and called for “unnecessary regulations” for international students to be removed.
It comes after Waris was granted bail on Tuesday morning after having been detained at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre for more than two months for allegedly breaching the terms of his visa.
The Pakistani national said he had been commuting between Stirling and Rutherglen, where he was staying while in Scotland, and that he had been working at a grocery shop in Glasgow, where the Home Office alleged he was working over the legally-permitted number of hours.
Foreigners studying in the UK can work up to 20 hours on a student visa, a limit Home Office sources said they have credible evidence to prove Waris has breached, though they refused to share this with The National.
Gomersall said these restrictions were designed to make it as hard as possible for internationals students to study in Scotland.
She added that “education in Scotland is not truly free and accessible until it is free and accessible for everyone”.
Gomersall said in a statement: “It is a huge relief to know that Muhammad has been granted bail and is no longer trapped in an indefinite stay in Dungavel Immigration Centre. However, his ordeal is still not over. We must continue to demand that his trial is fair and that he is allowed to stay in Scotland and continue his studies.
“Muhammad’s case is symptomatic of a wider problem. The hostile environment is designed to make studying in Scotland as hard as possible for international students; they cannot work more than 20 hours per week, they are almost twice as likely to experience homelessness as home students, and despite this, they are not eligible for hardship grants.
“Education in Scotland is not truly free and accessible until it is free and accessible for everyone. There should not be harsher rules for international students than for home students. Everyone who wants an education should be able to access one without unnecessary regulations on how much they can work.”
