LONDON: British Home Office spokesman said that student visa regulations had been tightened so that all would-be students had to have their fingerprints checked against terror and police lists and had to be sponsored by a legitimate college or university in the UK.
According to British magazine “ Guardian”, only last month, immigration minister Phil Woolas described how “abuse of the student visa has been the biggest abuse of the system, the major loophole in Britain’s border controls”.
Suspects being questioned today after one of the biggest anti-terror operations since the July 7 attacks exploited lax student visa regulations to enter the UK from Pakistan, according to Whitehall sources.
As police continued searches in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe, Lancashire, after the raids on Wednesday, the Home Office said student visa checks had been tightened in the last fortnight because of widespread abuses of the system.
There are concerns inside government and the security services that the 11 Pakistani nationals being held in the north of England could have gained entry on student visas in order to form a sleeper cell.
The operation which led to the arrest of the men, along with one Briton who is said to have roots in the same tribal area, was rushed forward after the country’s top anti-terror officer carried papers under his arm detailing the raids as he walked into 10 Downing Street in full view of photographers.
Despite the gaffe, security sources said the operation was a success, describing it as an unprecedented joint action by MI5 and MI6 in light of intelligence.
source: Student visa link to terror raids: report - GEO.tv
Now there will be more difficultiz for students to have british student visa
