The House | The UK’s ‘visa brake’ risks punishing students from conflict-affected countries

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In the current political climate, headlines often move at breakneck speed. But rushed political decisions, made with little scrutiny, can cause lasting harm that far outlasts the news cycle.

When the Home Secretary blocked student visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, alongside skilled worker visas for Afghans, last month, the rationale was that it would reduce strain on and abuse of the asylum system. However, the government estimates that the 18-visa month visa brake will reduce asylum claims by only 1,400. Set against more than 160,000 applications over the last 18 months, this will do little to address existing backlogs, while carrying serious consequences for people from impacted countries.

Entering the UK with permission to study and later claiming asylum because war erupts or repression intensifies at home is not misuse. It is the protection system working as intended. The evidence supports this: in 2025, 94 per cent of Sudanese asylum applicants were granted protection. These are people seeking protection from well-documented violence and persecution, not looking for loopholes. I am in Sudan currently, and it offers a stark illustration; the country is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since records began, and millions of young people have been denied access to education.

One Sudanese colleague, who arrived in the UK on a Chevening scholarship, explained that “the study visa is not just an opportunity, it represents hope, stability, and a pathway to building a better future. A lot of time, effort, and hope have already been invested in this process.”

At the International Rescue Committee (IRC), we work with people from the moment they are forced to flee, through to rebuilding their lives in safety.  All four countries affected by the visa brake are on the IRC’s Emergency Watchlist, meaning they are amongst the 20 most fragile and conflict-affected places on Earth.

The impact is particularly severe for women and girls in Afghanistan, where they have been banned from receiving education over the age of 12, leaving around 1.5m girls barred from secondary education alone. For many Afghan women, access to education abroad has become one of the last remaining routes to learning and independence. One Afghan IRC colleague who arrived in the UK on a scholarship told us the decision feels equivalent to when the Taliban banned women from education and work: “It takes away access to education and opportunity, with very similar consequences for Afghan youth, especially women.”

These visas are often not about permanent migration but gaining qualifications and experience that can help rebuild their countries. An Afghan client, who arrived as a student, told us that this will have a serious impact on the dreams of talented young Afghans: “For many, these opportunities are not just about studying or working abroad. They represent hope, stability and a future built through hard work.”

Cameroon is another case in point. For students from English-speaking regions, deeply affected by ongoing violence, access to education in the UK is needed for training lawyers to work within English common law, and for doctors who can return to support overstretched health services.

For those who do stay in the UK, many have worked tirelessly to secure opportunities and are now making extraordinary contributions to workplaces, universities and communities.

These concerns are shared in Parliament. Baroness Royall, former Principal of Somerville College, Oxford, expressed dismay that “brilliant students, following rigorous selection procedures and on fully funded scholarships, have had their hopes, dreams and futures shattered”.

Lord Smith, Chancellor of Cambridge University, echoes this, noting that “overseas students bring life and cultural difference to our universities, and we are infinitely the richer for it”.

We have seen the damaging consequences of nationality-based restrictions before. In the US, travel bans reinforced harmful stereotypes and fueled hostility. Policies that imply certain nationalities are more likely to ‘abuse’ the system risk deepening division, without fixing the challenges the asylum system faces.

Student and skilled worker visas should be assessed on individual merit. Blanket restrictions based on nationality are unfair, risk undermining British values and set a dangerous precedent.

Flora Alexander is Executive Director of International Rescue Committee UK