The brilliant students the UK doesn’t want – podcast
Why has the UK introduced a ban on student visas for four countries? Today in Focus talks to affected students in Sudan and Afghanistan, as well as our home affairs editor, Rajeev Syal
In early March, with little warning, the UK announced a ban on student visas for four countries: Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Cameroon.
It came as devastating news to Afra Elmahdi (pictured), an exceptional student from Sudan. Having survived civil war and been exiled to the United Arab Emirates, she hoped to further her medical career in the UK. But after being offered a place at the University of Oxford – and as she was waiting to find out whether she’d be offered a prestigious scholarship – she saw the announcement. She tells Helen Pidd of “the feeling that the ground had been pulled from my under of my feet” and that “there was nothing I could do to stop it”.
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