Market News

BY  Rachael Burford

Ministers are set to crack down on foreign students remaining in the UK once their visas run out as 15,000 a year are now claiming asylum, the Home Secretary has said.

International students and their families will, for the first time, be contacted by the Home Office to warn them they must leave if they have no right to remain in Britain.

The text and email campaign is the latest step the Government is taking to grasp migration after Yvette Cooper revealed the first returns of migrants crossing the Channel will begin later this month.

On Tuesday she confirmed ministers are seeking to prevent international students claiming asylum once their visas come to an end.

"Up to 15,000 students each year end up claiming asylum", she told BBC Breakfast.

International students will recieve a text that states: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused.

“Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support.

“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”

On Monday, MPs returned to Parliament after a summer which saw unrest over how ministers have handled the small boats crisis.

The Home Secretary told the Commons that following the deal signed with France last month “we expect the first returns to begin later this month”.

The “one in, one out” pilot scheme has been agreed for the UK to send back migrants to France who crossed the Channel, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to the UK.

Ms Cooper also told the Commons new applications to the existing refugee family reunion route will be suspended this week, meaning refugees will be covered by “the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else” until new rules are introduced.

Further reforms to family reunion routes will be outlined later this year and introduced by spring.