Foreign students, wrongly accused of cheating in English language tests needed for visa renewal, are taking legal action against the Home Office. They seek compensation for unlawful detention and loss of earnings.
Despite the government making payments in a couple of cases, lawyers are frustrated by the department’s reluctance to establish a standard settlement scheme, which they argue would expedite the justice-seeking process.
Bindmans, a law firm, represents 23 students who’ve successfully appealed immigration decisions, overturning the Home Office’s visa cancellations over cheating allegations.
The firm urges the department to recognize this as a group action. Clients aim for compensation due to wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, loss of earnings during the contested immigration status period, and damage to mental health.
Efforts to obtain compensation arose a decade after the Home Office moved to revoke the visas of approximately 35,000 international students, following a BBC documentary exposing cheating in certain English language test centers.
While cheating occurred in some Home Office-approved centers, thousands of students have long contended they were unjustly impacted by the department’s decision, which labeled 97% of test-takers as potential cheaters.
Some of the firm’s clients were not initially told that they had been accused of cheating but were detained by immigration enforcement officers during dawn raids, with no clear indication of what had prompted the arrest, Alice Hardy, a partner at Bindmans, said.
“Our clients have been through hell. The Home Office deliberately concealed from them the fact that they had been accused of cheating, denying them the opportunity to defend themselves, and instead removed their immigration status with no in-country right of appeal…These situations persisted for up to 10 years and caused untold suffering. It is now apparent that the allegations were based on thin evidence”
Alice Hardy
The law firm filed 23 claims from October 2020 to March 2022, but only one case has been resolved. Lawyers aimed to convince the department to establish a scheme, similar to the Windrush compensation scheme, outlining specific categories for damages payment to expedite the process.
However, Bindmans stated that the Home Office turned down their proposal.
“It is open to the Home Office to repair some of the damage done by apologising to our clients and agreeing a sensible, efficient settlement scheme to enable them to move on with their lives. It is deeply disappointing that they are declining to do that.”
Alice Hardy
Home Office Insists On Significant Organised Fraud
One student, represented by a different law firm, received compensation following an accusation of cheating in the test.
Mohammad Bhuiyan received approximately £13,500 in compensation from the Home Office in 2021 for wrongful detention. He was held in immigration detention for 47 days after being accused of cheating in an English language test.
Abdul Mohammad, 36, who left India in 2010 to study business in London, spent more than 20,000 pounds trying to clear his name in the scandal, pushing him and his family into debt.
Abdul admitted to experiencing “panic attacks” and expressed a sense of shame over facing inquiries from his family back home. They would often ask, “Abdul you have lived in the UK for 14 years. What have you achieved?”
“My father is still angry with me. He has spent so much money first on my education and then on trying to clear my name. He had a small grocery shop and saved up to put 15,000 pounds into my college fees. I’ve got debts on my credit card of £10,000. My mother sold her gold to support me” he said.
However, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The 2014 investigation into the abuse of English language testing revealed systemic cheating which was indicative of significant organised fraud. Courts have consistently found the evidence was sufficient to take the action we did.”
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