The success of young Hong Kongers who fled to the UK to escape oppression is at risk because of high tuition fees, British MPs have warned.
In a letter printed in The Times on May 31, the MPs—along with community and academic leaders—said the higher education costs levied on foreign students should be relaxed for those Hongkongers with a British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa because the expense curtailed their opportunities.
The letter says: “Those coming to Britain include parents keen to see their children educated in a democratic society and young people keen to succeed.
“However, the higher education rules create an unnecessary impediment to opportunity, since BNO visa holders are not eligible for home fees status until they have lived in the UK for five years, and so face much higher university fees while being ineligible for student loans.”
The MPs added: “The government has rightly agreed that young people arriving under Ukraine visa schemes should have home student status. We believe that exceptional status should be extended to those arriving under the BNO visa too. We call on the government and the devolved administrations to do the right thing.”
Under the current system, students from Hong Kong face paying £22,831 a year more than British students for university fees.
The letter has been signed by MPs across the political divide, including Steve Baker, Robert Buckland, Nus Ghani, Damian Green, Paul Blomfield, Rupa Huq, and Liam Byrne.
Government data released last week revealed that 113,742 people from Hong Kong had been granted BNO visas for the UK since the scheme opened on Jan. 31, 2021.
If the rules were changed, those with BNO visas would pay the same amount as domestic students and those with refugee status—no more than £9,250 per year for current undergraduate courses.
At present they must be residents in the UK for five years before they can access loan funding.
“I have concerns over how our non-eligibility for local university fees and student loans will affect my opportunities in advancing in my education for the future,” Audrey, a sixth former in South Wales who moved to the UK from Hong Kong with her parents under the scheme told PA.
Her A-level studies were free but being unable to access university funding made her worry about how her family would support her through higher education, she said.
She added: “I fear how this may have influence over my freedom in choices and options regarding placement and level of study,” she added.
Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, said: “We shouldn’t be penalising young people from Hong Kong with high international fees, which will put university out of reach for many. This is their home now and they should be treated as home students.”
Amid the ongoing clampdown by the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, the BNO scheme will be expanded from October 2022 to include adults born after 1997 with at least one BNO parent.
