Over 2,000 academics, including eminent professors, on Monday petitioned home secretary Priti Patel to reconsider the Home Office decision to reject permission to Asiya Islam, an award-winning Indian sociologist at Cambridge, to continue her stay in the country.
Islam, who won the Zakir Hussain Medal for Academic Excellence at the Aligarh Muslim University, was denied the status of indefinite stay on the ground that she spent a period in New Delhi as part of her PhD research, which went beyond the permissible number of days.
However, the petition signed by the academics points out that under guidelines published on October 1, 2019, the time abroad can be waived for Tier 2 visa holders in PhD level occupations when they are absent from the UK for research purposes.
Islam completed her PhD titled ‘Gender, Class, and Labour in the New Economy of Urban India’ from the University of Cambridge and won a junior research fellowship at Newnham College. She undertook fieldwork in New Delhi between July 2016 and June 2017.
The petition says: “Her individual case is distressing, but it also sends a foreboding signal that despite policy changes to protect Tier 2 researchers, UK universities will continue to lose the talented PhD researchers that they have invested years in training”.
{{/usCountry}}The petition says: “Her individual case is distressing, but it also sends a foreboding signal that despite policy changes to protect Tier 2 researchers, UK universities will continue to lose the talented PhD researchers that they have invested years in training”.
{{/usCountry}}“The UK academic community’s global competitiveness suffers from the loss of the valuable fieldwork data and expertise, grant funding, and international research profiles brought in by non-EU postgraduates transitioning to staff positions at UK universities”.
Islam’s case has also been highlighted by the British news media of the Home Office refusing international academics permission to stay, among those of others, reinforcing the perception that despite claims that Britain welcomes talent from across the globe, the reality is different.
Islam tweeted: “Let’s hold our elected govt to account. Today I’ve sent the open letter with 2000+ signatures, inc 183 eminent profs, to @patel4witham calling for reconsideration of my case. Will the @ukhomeoffice take notice or continue #HostileEnvironment against us?”
A spokesperson for Newnham College, Cambridge, said: “Without talented academics like Islam, the University of Cambridge would not be a global leader in research. Dr Asiya Islam is a highly valued member of the research community at Newnham College and the University of Cambridge”.