Mizzima/AFP-Mar 9
Aspiring students are lamenting Britain’s ban on education visas for their war-weary countries — dashing dreams of bettering themselves and their home nations. Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas, London announced this week, saying asylum applications by visiting students had “rocketed” nearly 500 percent from 2021 to 2025. “It’s like the country is punishing the weak, the most vulnerable people,” said one woman from Myanmar. Like in much of the developed world, immigration has become a divisive issue in Britain. Efforts to beat back arrivals mirror the sweeping travel bans issued by US President Donald Trump which have shut out citizens of Myanmar, Sudan and Afghanistan. Britain’s Labor government made the decision to curb visas as the right-wing Reform UK party surges in opinion polls with its hardline stance against immigration. The UK Home Office said almost 135,000 asylum seekers had entered the country through legal routes since 2021. Activist organization Burma Campaign UK called the visa ban “exceptionally cruel and shortsighted”. “The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar,” said program director Zoya Phan in a statement. One exiled Myanmar journalist has been living over the border in Thailand after escaping the military rule which has clamped down on press freedoms. Every year since the junta takeover she applied for further education to buoy her spirits. But she received an email Thursday morning cancelling her place to study for a master’s at a London university. “Everything is gone,” she said. “My UK dream is all disappeared.” Read more at:
