By Joe Card
With around 70% of LSE’s students coming from outside the UK, the student community has been affected by widespread anti-immigrant rhetoric and the government’s changes to immigration rules. International students have raised concerns over personal safety, their long-term prospects in this country, and the atmosphere created by right-wing protests and politicians.
Throughout the summer protests have been organised across the country, opposing asylum seekers and the hotels housing them. More recently, the campaign ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ has seen St George’s flags and Union Jacks appearing on lampposts, on zebra crossings, and in other public places, sparking debate over the flags’ significance.
On Saturday September 13th, this reached a peak when over 110,000 protesters marched through central London in a demonstration against immigration organised by right-wing extremist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson. The protest culminated with speeches from a range of far-right figures, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour. Musk’s speech in particular has attracted criticism for its divisive rhetoric, and 25 protesters were arrested for violence towards the police.
This has had a profound effect on international students at LSE, and at other Russell Group universities. Most significantly, the rhetoric has left students concerned for their safety in the UK. One student from India, who preferred to remain anonymous, said they felt “unsafe” after being chased in a Tube station while travelling to their accommodation near Whitehall, only two days after the protest. Concerned that they may have been targeted because of their race, the student said they would be “more cautious”, “more careful going out late, and a little more wary of random people”.
International students are divided on whether seeing the St George’s flag or Union Jack concerns them. A South Asian student returning for their second year, who also asked to remain anonymous, said they weren’t aware of any particular significance to the flags and “would have thought it was to do with national pride” rather than discrimination. In contrast, the Indian student who was chased argued that the flag “signals the wrong thing” and clearly isn’t just about patriotism.
One Ukrainian student felt that the flag campaign is “related to a sense of Englishness”, and a desire to defend the “white English population against an influx of people”. This echoes concerns noted in a report for the Russell Group, which found that 30% of international students reported experiencing xenophobia.
When asked whether they felt personally targeted, the South Asian student said no, given their impression that the protests and policy changes seem “mostly focused on low-skilled workers”, rather than on students. Similarly, the Ukrainian student said that as they are here to study, “as more of a guest” rather than as a “refugee”, they don’t feel targeted in the same way they might have otherwise been. Commenting on his family’s experience as refugees living in a hotel in Ireland, the student said he empathises with how difficult it is for “people to survive in that situation.”
Beyond the rhetoric, students are also worried about the government’s changes to immigration rules, and the opportunities for international students to stay in the UK after graduating. This has a direct impact on students’ career choices, where one interviewee reported that their friends who originally aimed to do a PhD are “giving up” on their dream and instead aiming for “high finance…just so they can stay in the country.” The Ukrainian student similarly felt that they had become “more conservative” and “more risk-averse” in return, for more certainty about being able to stay after graduation. In addition , students cited the increase in salary requirements for the Skilled Worker Visa to £41,700, and the fact that the time required to earn indefinite leave to remain has doubled from five to ten years.
In response to a request for comment, the new Welfare and Liberation Officer for the LSESU, Isabel Howe, stated that “myself and my colleagues at [the SU] strongly condemn the rise of racism and xenophobia in the UK over this summer. We know that anti-immigration rhetoric in the UK is detrimentally impacting international students. To all students affected, the Student Union is a space for you to find community, seek guidance, campaign for change and, most importantly, enjoy yourself!”
She urged students to email SU.campaigns@lse.ac.uk if they want to take further action.
