Burma Campaign UK today condemned UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood as exceptionally cruel and shortsighted in banning people from Burma from obtaining student visas.
“The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar, as people will use new skills to help their country in the future,” said Zoya Phan, Programme Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Instead of smashing the gangs, Shabana Mahmood is smashing the hopes and dreams of young people from Myanmar seeking a better future for themselves and their country.”
Zoya Phan claimed asylum 20 years ago while on a student visa, after death threats from the Burmese military because of her advocacy for human rights meant it was unsafe to return home.
The announcement of the student visa ban adds to a string of betrayals by the British government, which cut aid after the 2021 military coup in Burma despite a growing humanitarian crisis, and has not brought in any new sanctions against the Burmese military since 2024.
Following the 2021 coup the British Home Office, unlike in many western countries, refused to establish any special programme to enable human rights activists to escape and seek safety in the UK. The British Home Office also refused to establish any form of temporary protected status for students and other people from Burma who were in the UK at the time. With passports and visas expiring, and it being unsafe to return home, the lack of temporary protected status forced students to claim asylum.
Shabana Mahmood says, “Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution”. We invite media to ask Shabana Mahmood to provide details of the legal routes people from Burma can use to seek asylum and safety in the UK, and to publish these details in English and Burmese on the social media of the British Embassy in Yangon.
The UK student ban on people from Burma creates additional dangers because of the role of the UK on Burma internationally. Britain is the ‘penholder’ (lead country) on Burma at the United Nations Security Council. It is a former colonial power which has, although not so much recently, led the international community in responding to the crisis in Burma. What the UK does on Burma has implications internationally with other countries following.
“Shabana Mahmood is being exceptionally cruel and shortsighted in banning students from Myanmar,” said Zoya Phan. “Shabana Mahmood has decided to sacrifice opportunities for students from Myanmar for the sake of one day of media headlines.”