A migrant group lobbying the UK Home Office in favour of overseas students, many of them from India, "wrongly" accused of cheating in a compulsory visa-related English language exam renewed its call for justice on Wednesday.
Migrant Voice believes UK home secretary Sajid Javid has reviewed the representations related to the case of thousands of these students and is expected to announce his decision on their plight soon.
The group had found the backing of many British MPs last year, who set up an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to mount pressure on Javid to "rethink" the government's handling of the issue.
The campaigners want the students to be allowed to re-sit the English exam in order to prove their innocence after a media sting operation exposed cases of fraud in the government-mandated tests back in 2014.
"The core demand is for the UK Home Office/government to allow the students to re-sit the test and those who pass should be: given their visa back, allowed to return to study or work and to drop the criminal allegation against them," said Director of Migrant Voice Nazek Ramadan.
"The treatment of these students has been appalling," said Opposition Labour Party MP Stephen Timms, who helped set up the APPG dedicated to the cause.
The issue dates back nearly five years, when BBC aired an investigation into colleges offering the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) exams and revealed some cases of cheating.
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The UK Home Office responded by launching an investigation and concluded that 33,725 of the test results were invalid and 22,694 questionable. Those with questionable results were given the chance of review but the others were made to abandon their courses and, in many cases, forced to return to their countries of origin.
Migrant Voice, which released the 'I want my future back' report last year to highlight the plight of many who claim to be wrongly clubbed in the invalid category, estimates nearly 56,000 students were caught up in the scandal. While many have since returned to their countries of origin or forcibly deported, thousands have remained in the UK to fight their cause.
A Migrant Voice statement notes: "Many are destitute and suffering severe health problems. Many have contemplated or attempted suicide. Unable to travel home to see their families, most have missed the funerals and weddings of loved ones.
"Those who have left the UK can't get work and many have been rejected by their families."
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