{"id":45124,"date":"2021-11-30T10:16:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T10:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=45124"},"modified":"2021-12-13T19:03:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T19:03:45","slug":"international-students-forced-into-crime-to-pay-for-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/international-students-forced-into-crime-to-pay-for-university\/","title":{"rendered":"International students forced into crime to pay for university?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>How are increased tuition for universities in London seriously damaging young middle-class international students?<\/h4>\n<p>Tuition fees in London for international students vary from a minimum of \u00a311,250 per year to a maximum of an astonishing \u00a345,250 per semester.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the cost of course materials and wider expenses such as low-living standards accommodations, food and travelling, struggling financially can drastically prevent middle-class international students to go to London universities at all.<\/p>\n<p>After Brexit, international students now include also European citizens, and whoever was born outside the national borders.<\/p>\n<p>After the pandemic, foreign students are facing very serious complications in finding part-time work in London while they are blocked from accessing state support.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A petition calling for UK university students tuition fees to be slashed by two-thirds has received more than 200,000 signatures. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NickFerrariLBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NickFerrariLBC<\/a> asks: should university fees be discounted? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DwKhtelGA6\">pic.twitter.com\/DwKhtelGA6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LBC (@LBC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LBC\/status\/1347470225978105856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Paulina, 19, from Belarus, student in Psychology at London Metropolitan University told us:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Financial problems for me are more common than you would imagine. I have friends that have to choose between eating meals or paying their tuition fees.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Indeed, the no recourse to public funds policy impedes thousands of migrants from accessing help from the government due to their immigration status.<\/p>\n<p>Karina, 19, from Ukraine, student in Psychology of Fashion at University of the Arts London confessed to VoL:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It was horrible. I was terrified of being removed from my courses. I had to stop\u00a0taking public transports to save up.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Should the United Kingdom abolish university tuition fees? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Politics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Politics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/London?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#London<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VoL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VoL<\/a>\ud83c\udfeb<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Voice Of London UK (@VoiceOfLondonUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VoiceOfLondonUK\/status\/1464013146365087747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 25, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, a consistent number of international students are finding illegal sources of income.<\/p>\n<p>The most profitable and common way of earning easy money during university is selling drugs to other students.<\/p>\n<p>According to the\u00a0north London charity <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minoritymatters.org.uk\">Minority Matters<\/a>, the number of young people who are being imprisoned as a result of the drugs market is unprecedented.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_45225\" style=\"width: 341px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45225\" class=\"wp-image-45225\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters.jpg\" alt=\"International students forced into crime to pay for university?\" width=\"331\" height=\"669\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters-149x300.jpg 149w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters-507x1024.jpg 507w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters-768x1551.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters-761x1536.jpg 761w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Minority-Matters-1014x2048.jpg 1014w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-45225\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/edit?mid=1IRVGnCXE8hsd5t9jLeTSQgdgWKhaFpAO&amp;usp=sharing\">Minority Matters<\/a>\u00a0+44 20 7272 0039<\/p><\/div>\n<p>VoL was able to meet with one them.<\/p>\n<p>We will refer to him as &#8216;Paul&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Paul is 20, and he is from Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Paul enticed into the activity with the promise of a lucrative lifestyle but mainly to pay off his debts.<\/p>\n<p>He told us:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Here was too expensive for me. Plus, I already have a loan for University. I need to pay the accommodation on my own somehow.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_45202\" style=\"width: 341px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45202\" class=\"wp-image-45202\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Paul.jpg\" alt=\"International students forced into crime to pay for university?\" width=\"331\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Paul.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Paul-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Paul-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Paul-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-45202\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul in a photograph I took of him.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_45153\" style=\"width: 341px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45153\" class=\"wp-image-45153\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2021\/11\/Drugs-A.jpg\" alt=\"International students forced into crime to pay for university?\" width=\"331\" height=\"441\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-45153\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph by John Cameron &#8211; Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n<p>He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Most of my work gets done by Snapchat and Instagram. Rarely,\u00a0WhatsApp. It&#8217;s actually very easy.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The question is:\u00a0when will young international students finally be able to\u00a0access help from the government?<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury and the Department for Education are now pushing for a tuition fee cut to a flat \u00a37,500 for all students.<\/p>\n<p>Will this happen any time soon?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Words: Francesco Ghanaymi <\/strong><strong>Subbing: Katie Bird<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How are increased tuition for universities in London seriously damaging young middle-class international students? Tuition fees in London for international students vary from a minimum of \u00a311,250 per year to a maximum of an astonishing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":45159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32,75,84,152,93],"tags":[1613,1763,1965,3769,5517,6597],"class_list":["post-45124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accommodation","category-crime","category-investigations","category-london","category-london-violence","category-news","tag-crime","tag-dealer","tag-drugs","tag-london","tag-security","tag-university"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45124"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46528,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45124\/revisions\/46528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}