As Rishi Sunak is cracking down on foreign students, Indians have this request

• International students, of which Indians are the largest group, bring GBP 30 billion in net revenue to the British economy, Sanam Arora, President of NISAU UK

Newly elected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering a crackdown on foreign students as net emigration has reached its highest level since World War II. Against this backdrop, an Indian diaspora-led students' organization has urged the UK government to remove international students from the country's overall immigration statistics.

Downing Street has indicated that "all options" are on the table to bring the total migrant numbers down. The National Indian Students and Alumni Association (NISAU) UK, which campaigns for streamlined provisions for Indian students studying in the UK, has called any move arbitrary. Ranked universities will prove counterproductive in the long run.

"Students who are temporarily in the UK should not be counted as migrants," said Sanam Arora, president of NISAU UK.

International students, of whom Indians are the largest group, bring in net revenue of GBP 30 billion to the British economy. Furthermore, the UK higher education sector is one of our biggest exports in the world. Therefore, Arora said, "We hope that the government will ensure that there is no arbitrary definition of what counts as a 'top' university."

The group called for "creative and innovative policy solutions" that address the UK's skills and labor shortage through its international graduates.

Universities UK International (YUKI), which represents more than 140 UK universities, also called for caution on any policy move to cut international student numbers.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of UUK, said: "Cutting the number of international students would be in direct contrast to the UK government's strategy to welcome more students from around the world."

“International students make an enormous cultural and financial contribution to the UK. They help make our campuses and cities the vibrant, thought-provoking places they are known for. They create jobs in towns and cities up and down the country keep," she said.

"Moreover, the financial contribution they make is so important to UK universities. Limiting international students would be an act of self-harm that would harm many parts of the UK," she said.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), net migration to the UK is set to rise from 173,000 in the year to June 2021 to 504,000 in the year to June 2022 – an increase of 331,000 after Brexit.

International students were a major contributor to this growth, with Indians overtaking Chinese students as the largest group on student visas for the first time.