UK deports Guj students in droves

Updated on: Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Harsh Patel, 23, a resident of Ahmedabad, was deported from the UK on Saturday. On a student visa, he could not work for more than 10 hours a week, but was founding working 15 hours in south London . He was one among five Indians working at a garage.

In the last nine months, 122 people from Gujarat were deported from the UK, of which 72 were students. In the last two months alone, more than 30 students have been deported to Ahmedabad. "The UK government has cracked down on illegal migrants and students breaking visa rules because they take away jobs. The economic slowdown has made life difficult for them," said Ahmedabad joint commissioner of police, special branch, Shamsher Singh.

This is the first time Gujarati students have been deported in large numbers. "I was caught on September 27 from a restaurant I was working in. For two days I was kept in a detention centre with 500 other students, mostly Indians and Pakistanis ," said Piyush Soni, 22, a Surat resident who had gone to London for a business administration course last year. His family had spent Rs 5 lakh on the trip.

Some Gujaratis settled in London feel the worst is yet to come for illegal immigrants. "Raids have become regular," said Rahul Gandhi, who runs an IT firm in London. "Now we avoid students who work for more than the permitted hours."

Times of India

UK deports Guj students in droves

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