Regarding your article (‘It destroyed my life’: the students accused of cheating in English tests”, 11 February) and other related pieces on the English language test scandal, Migrant Voice has been campaigning with the students for seven years, and has brought about investigations that have revealed more evidence supporting their innocence.
When affected students first approached Migrant Voice to help them fight to clear their names, the sheer scale and complexity of the cases was startling. We were talking about tens of thousands of students stripped of their right to study overnight, thousands deported, and many criminalised and detained, all because of IT errors and a failure of corporate responsibility.
As the Labour MP Stephen Timms says (‘97% seemed absurd’: Labour’s Stephen Timms on the English test scandal that wrecked lives, 13 February), the idea that 97% of all students taking these tests were cheating was absurd. It could not possibly be the case, yet this is what the Home Office was claiming.
Since then, we have seen more evidence emerge to prove their innocence, expert testimony showing how the errors could have occurred, and many students being found innocent in the courts.
That the government continues to refuse to re-evaluate the cases and provide an opportunity for the remaining affected students to regain their futures is a scandal of significant proportion.
We have seen students disowned by their families, even barred from seeing their own children, until they have cleared their names. Yet the Home Office steadfastly refuses to give them that opportunity. These students just want their futures back.
Nazek Ramadan
Director, Migrant Voice
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