Daily Mail
March 30, 2014
The ongoing ‘significant abuse’ of Britain’s border controls by bogus students was revealed in government papers last night.
Foreign students are illegally working for five-figure salaries and claiming benefits, as well as pretending to attend courses that have no teachers.
But a detailed Home Office blitz planned by Theresa May against the migrants and their colleges is being blocked by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.
The revelations will further fuel the row between the two sides of the Coalition over the need to get a firmer grip on Britain’s borders.
A leaked Cabinet letter written by the Home Secretary reveals that, despite a concerted government crackdown on bogus colleges, ‘abuse of the system has evolved, not disappeared’.
At a single college, 397 students with no right to work in Britain were caught earning more than £20,000 a year – potentially depriving Britons of a job.
This suggests that, nationwide, thousands of students may be guilty of working illegally. At the same private college 62 students were found to be wrongly pocketing benefits.
Investigators also discovered that one college claimed it had 50 students but only 18 were attending classes. It had recruited 70 more to study at a campus that has no teachers.
Students were regularly found to be living too far away to attend their courses. One college in Manchester had enrolled youngsters who claimed to be commuting from Northern Ireland.
In a letter seen by the Mail, Mrs May warned the Deputy Prime Minister that ‘we need to take decisive action to protect the integrity of the system and the reputation of our education sector’.
She outlined a string of detailed policy proposals requiring Mr Clegg’s approval. These include banning foreign students from bringing their dependants with them unless they are studying for two years or more.
The move would lead to thousands fewer migrants being allowed to bring over wives, partners and children.