Congress motions

Motion

Motion title

Points-based system for immigration

Session

2008-2009

Meeting link

Annual Congress

Meeting date

27 May 2009

Status

Passed

Motion

30

Motion text

Congress strongly condemns the Points Based System for Immigration, which requires international staff and students to carry biometric ID cards and institutions to monitor them, report absences to the Home Office and check biometric data bases.
Under the PBSI, HE and FE Institutions are mandated to have a UK Border Agency sponsor's licence effectively making them agents of the Home Office.
As a result individual UCU members (both academic and academic-related) will be required to carry out policing and surveillance duties on behalf of the Home Office. Individuals could be liable to substantial fines and possible jail sentences for failure to comply.
This UK Border Agency-directed policy will impose additional workloads on UCU members and will ride roughshod over any individual's moral objections to collaborating in such distasteful surveillance activities
Colleges and Universities are being forced to police the movement of international students and staff – or lose the ability to recruit internationally. International staff and students form an essential part of world class teaching and research. This system makes educators into immigration snoopers which could damage UK education irreparably.
Congress believes PBSI is:
1. Discriminatory and an attack on the civil liberties of international staff and students.
2. Likely to lead to draconian absence and sickness policies being introduced and members being disciplined if they do not report absences of international staff and students.
3. Likely to severely damage the international status, and quality of education and research in institutions due to the loss of overseas staff and students.
4. Counter to our core values of academic freedom and equality.
5. Not part of our duties.
Congress deplores this pandering to anti-immigration racism and agrees to:
Campaign against the implementation of the points-based immigration system
Lobby Government to explain the detrimental impact on key sectors
Lobby all relevant bodies and individuals to secure short-term amendments of PBSI legislation to ensure that UCU members are released from the existing requirements to act as unpaid and unconsulted agents of the UK Border Agency,
Instruct the NEC to campaign jointly with S/TUC, NUS, employers, and other organisations to put pressure on the government to repeal this legislation.
Work with all relevant groups to continue the campaign against ID cards
The UCU immediately launching a campaign of non-compliance with all such policing and surveillance duties (including recording details from foreign national students; supplying personal details to other institutions in our capacity as external examiners, assessors and lecturers; and refusal to request such details on behalf of our own institutions from external examiners, assessors and lecturers). The UCU will give unqualified support to any member disciplined or victimised as a result of this campaign.
Congress agrees to assist branches in supporting members in their refusal to monitor or track international students and staff.
UCU will provide all possible support for any member who refuses to implement the processes of the PBSI.

Proposing body

Composite

Amended

Yes

Allocated to

Strategy and finance committee (SFC)

Notes