26-28 February Milton Keynes. Candidate manifestos CD8

Transcription

1 26-28 February Milton Keynes Candidate manifestos CD8

2 Candidates for the position of International Students Officer Purpose of this document Under NUS election rules, the list of candidates for full time positions are circulated prior to the conference at which they are elected. Also included with this list are the names of those who nominated each candidate and, if supplied, a manifesto for them. For the positions of NUS International Students Officer each candidate needed 10 nominations from 10 different constituent members to be submitted by 12pm on Wednesday 18 February Full details of the election rules and schedules can be found online: As one of the purposes for which the list of candidates is published is to enable objections to eligibility to be submitted, it will be clear that the candidates listed may not be properly qualified or validly nominated. It should be borne in mind that this document has to be prepared before the Chief Returning Officer can decide questions relating to qualifications of candidates and the validity of the nominations. The appearance of a candidate s name in this document does not therefore mean that they are duly qualified or validly nominated. The Chief Returning Officer will report on any matters arising in this connection in due course. Objections to the eligibility of full time candidates Any member of NUS may object to the eligibility of candidates or their nominators. For the full time position they may do this by contacting the chief returning officer in writing via executiveoffice@nus.org.uk by 12pm on March Other positions Voting delegates at Sections Conference can nominate you for election to all other positions. To nominate you they must sign your nomination form which will be available at the Conference. More information about other positions available can be found in CD3 Election Rules and Schedules.

3 Candidates for the position of International Students Officer Edna Chirwa Mostafa Rajaai Roza Salih Re-Open Nominations (RON) Candidate: Edna Chirwa (University of East London Students Union) Nominator Antonia Patsalou CK Farabee George Louloudis Nikol Zavrou Christina Papadopoulou Adam Yassin Adriadne Hadjikyriacou Martin Zaranyika Carmen Lambrianos Sidhart Chalwa Constituent Member University of East London Students Union LSE Students Union University College London Union Royal Academy of Dance Students Union Sheffield Hallam Union University of Sheffield Students Union University of Nottingham Students Union Union of Brunel Students SU Arts University of Bath Students Union Candidate: Mostafa Rajaai (NUS International Students Committee) Nominator Tania Sauma Sai Englert J Yip Liang Jie Colin Mang Anastazja Oppenheim Coco Toma Deena Tissera Wirya Adenatya Nooka Yashwanth Sajjad Hossain Constituent Member University of Manchester Students Union SOAS Students Union Birmingham Guild of Students NUS International Students Committee SU Arts Huddersfield Students Union Robert Gordon University Students Union Royal Northern College of Music Students Union Staffordshire University Students Union Glyndwr University Students Union Candidate name: Roza Salih (NUS International Students Committee) Nominator Siew Wong Alexandra Irina Pinzariu Atiqur Rahman Anastasia Mamaeva Shrouk El-Attar Vera Ngosi Soumitra Sakhalkar Constantine Psaltis-Ivanis Edith Blasberg Ruta Simonyte Constituent Member University of Bath Students Union University of Nottingham Students Union Liverpool Hope Students Union University of Leicester Students Union Cardiff University Students Union University of Bristol Union University of Strathclyde Students Association Edinburgh University Students Association University of the Highlands and Islands Students Association Glasgow College Students Association

4 Supporting statements Edna Chirwa I am a Zambian International Student at University of East London (UEL). I have been an active member of the Students' Union since 2011 and gained so much experience working with students. My Experience: Students' Union Deputy President 2014/15 Black Student Conference Delegate 2014/15 NUS Black Students Committee Member International Students Representative 2014/15 UEL Students' Union Vice President 2013/14 UEL Students' Union Women's Officer and NUS Women's Conference Delegate 2012/13 Students' Ambassador 2012/13 UEL Sport Trampoline & Gymnastics Ambassador 2012/13 Residential Assistant in Residential Services 2012/13 London 2012 Olympics/Paralympics Performer 2012 Skills Advocate and Library Support Mostafa Rajaii Hi. My name is Mostafa Rajaai. I left Iran for the UK in September After doing a foundation course in art and design, I started a BA in Photography at University of the Arts London. I was elected as the Culture and Diversity officer of my union and started the role upon graduation. I have worked on numerous campaigns and projects, relating to international students during my 19 months as officer. These include: stopping weekly attendance monitoring and campaigning on post-study work visa nationally. A detailed account of these activities can be found on

5 Roza Salih Hi, I m Roza Salih, International Students Officer NUS Scotland and Vice-President Diversity and Advocacy at the University of Strathclyde Students Association. I graduated with an honours degree in Law and Politics at University of Strathclyde. I m running for International Students Officer NUS UK because I am passionate about improving the lives and rights of international students as well as campaigning on migrants rights issues. Under the current system, international students are treated as nothing but cash cows and we need to change that, I believe that I can help to achieve this. Check me out on Facebook Twitter Roza

6 Why I am Standing International Students are not fairly treated in the UK, yet we contribute so much to the economy. Apart from financial contribution to the economy, we bring diversity into the UK. Coming to study in the UK is a great investment of not only our time and money but our life. Should we be subjected to only get our degrees and go back to our countries without work experience? I believe in equality. To achieve equality we need to come together as a powerful International Students Movement and collectively we can achieve fair change. I have been a victim on two occasions where I have been unfairly treated. On my recent retain from holiday on 2 nd of February 2015, I was WRONGLY detained at Heathrow Airport for about an hour. The reason was because the officer was not aware that International Officers can be elected to full time positions and work full time. After their investigations, I was only told I learnt something new today, This has never happened in 8 years yet my passport shows the frequency of travel in and out of UK, about 8 times a year and could not relate to my previous trips, and they still don t know? I have also been disadvantage by the Upper Tribunal for about 5 five months they have not responded on my visa application for my son because I am a Sabbatical Officer, earning enough to sponsor and graduated my level 6. There answer is they don t know where to place an International Sabbatical Officer. For this sole reason I am kept distant on a daily basis from my son International Tuition fees keep increasing every year, is that fair on us? We need fixed fees. It is time to fight and get our fair change on unfair treatment. Achievements and Campaigns Achieved University of East London (UEL) International Graduation UEL has graduation in November and this is after International Students visas have expired, leaving most students undesirable to attend graduation because they have to apply for new visitor s visa, air tickets and accommodation for a few days in London/UK. We lobbied the University and managed to have our first International graduation last year in October 2014 International Week UEL s first ever International week was aimed to celebrate the diversity of the university. This helped international students get involved in Student Union activities. International students felt appreciated celebrating because the events included food, music, dance, open discussions and movie nights from around the globe 2015 General Elections Campaign During the week of registration for voters in 2015 General elections, we saw 450 students register of which most of them were commonwealth students who didn t see the benefit of being a registered voter. Attendance Policy In 2011 UEL, following the events at London Metropolitan University, our institution introduced a tap-in attendance policy. At first it was extremely strict and unfair to our students. Through a successful campaign we managed to eradicate the 3-strike policy which meant that if students missed 3 lectures of seminars they were kicked out! The chaos this caused especially amongst our international students facing withdrawal and further problems with the Boarder Agency was unacceptable and I am proud we managed to oppose these unreasonable rules of the institution UEL shuttle bus

7 Our International students pay their fees, with no funding assistance whatsoever. Additionally to that, majority of them stay on campus throughout their studies which means paying rent to the university. At UEL as international students, if you had lectures at Stratford campus we were required to ALSO pay for transportation! Visiting universities like Hertfordshire and Kingston and witnessing how they ensure FREE transportation amongst their campuses for students I was determined to ensure that UEL students are treated equally. Through research and a written proposal to the University we convinced management and UEL now has a FREE shuttle bus connecting its three campuses. As a result of this, International students living in halls do not to spend money on transport in order to attend their classes. My Promise when Elected: Continue the fight on Post-Study Work Visa and employability Many employers still discriminate against us International Students. They think it s expensive to be a sponsor. Yet they say all applicants are treated fairly. An employer s first choice is Home Students, EU and International is third in the line. Fight for paid Internships for International students. International students should be aware that they are able to apply for Graduate Entrepreneurship Visa if they want to engage in business after graduating. Support campaign for accommodation Guarantors for International Students Launch a new campaign on getting universities and colleges to be guarantors for their international students. Not all students can afford to pay 6 months rental plus 6 weeks deposit in advance. It is also unfair to demand that from International Students. Regional Forums To have organised quarterly regional forums to discuss barriers/challenges International students face in their regions I promise to visit each University and college affiliated to NUS in UK and Scotland to help with campaigns and encourage International students to run for full time positions This will help to discuss challenges of international students and how that can be resolved European Students being equally treated Since UK is a member of the European Union, it classifies European students as Home students when it comes to fees. However when it comes to supporting them financially to cope with rent and other maintenance fees they refuse to provide further funding from the fees for their course. With the current euro-crisis European students face an additional barrier of coping with the expenses. Lobbying the government for equal treatment and additional financial support of European students will be something I shall pursue. NHS Fees Continue the non violent campaign against paying for NHS charges for International students against the government. Charging students who already pay visa fees, tuition fees, accommodation fees, transportation fees an additional 150 for health care is pure racism. Promise Delivery I cannot achieve this alone to bring fair change for International Students in the UK. But I will be a vice for the many students studying in the UK. As my role model, Nelson Mandela said, No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. These cultural stereotypical views of this nation need to be changed through promoting benefits of having a multi-cultural and diverse society, strongly opposing any xenophobic or discriminative views. There s so much I can do alone, but there is so much more we can do together. Let s do this, TOGETHER because Together We Can.

8 MOSTAFA InternationalStudents oficer for Vote 5 Workcloselywith NUSliberation campaignsto fostertruly intersectional spaces 7 8 Stopintrusiveand discriminatory atendance monitoringpractices Helplocalunionsto securescholarships from universities 1 MakePost-StudyWork VisaanNUSNational priority Campaignforafree, fairandaccessible educationsystem foral 6 Createacrisisfund, coveringuk sponsorshipfailures anddisastersinour homecountries Makeitalegal r requirementfor universitiesandcoleges tobecomeguarantors 2 Addressthe atainmentgap betweenhomeand InternationalStudents 3 4 Createacrisisfund, coveringuk sponsorshipfailures anddisastersinour homecountries

9 Changefeestatus ofasylum seekersto homestudents 9 Activelycampaignagainst racistand xenophobic 10 policieswhich areatackingalmigrants 1Addressand tacklethe integration myth Increasesupportfor 12 disabledinternational studentsandintroduce comprehensive researchtraining 13 AmendTier-4 r regulationsto alow freelancework Continuetogetmore Unionstoacquire Tier-2 sponsorship 14

10 ROZA SALIH #1 FOR NUS INTERNATIONAL STUDENT OFFICER Hi, I m Roza Salih, International Students Officer NUS Scotland and Vice-President Diversity and Advocacy at the University of Strathclyde Students Association. I graduated with an honours degree in Law and Politics at University of Strathclyde. I m running for International Students Officer NUS UK because I am passionate about improving the lives and rights of international students as well as campaigning on migrants rights issues. Under the current system, international students are treated as nothing but cash cows and we need to change that, I believe that I can help to achieve this. My Priorities: Fixed Fees: I will fight for international students fees to be fixed and regulated. This has gone on long enough and needs to change. Too many students have had to drop out of study in the UK. Student unions should be involved in the reviewing process for international students fees. Scholarships for International & Asylum Seeker students: I will lead the fight for scholarships to be available for international students and asylum seekers to study in the UK and continue the fight for Equal Access for asylum seekers to education. Post-Study Work Visa and Employment: I will continue the fight for the restoration of the poststudy Work Visa as the scrapping of it has had huge effects on international Students opportunities to work in the UK. I will seek to influence decision makers at Westminster to change this policy. Becoming a Tier 2 sponsor is important in the short term as international students can get employment in the UK. More importantly we need to work to lower the unrealistic salary threshold of 20,500. However, recent NUS research shows that Tier 5 is more appropriate for international students seeking work experience in the UK. Moreover, it charges employers for Visa fees, not international students. I will fight for clear guidance to both international students and potential employers; include information of rights to work and options available, as well as dispelling myths and preconceptions of employing International Students. This isn t my full manifesto and I d love to chat to you about all I want to do, check me out at: Financial Hardship: I will campaign for discretionary funds to be available to those facing financial hardship, which is something I have successfully achieved at my institution. I will also campaign against high rent charges to international students for halls/accommodation. As International students find it difficult to secure housing due to guarantor requirements, I will lobby for institutions to act as guarantors. Also, there should be guidance available far in advance for renting in the private sector that are trustworthy landlords. Intersectionality: Together we can campaign on issues concerning International women, disabled, LGBT and BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) students. I will ensure fair representation for liberation groups within the international students committee. I would also like to introduce Caucuses for all Liberation groups at International Students Conference where relevant issues can be discussed. Disabled Students: Currently, International disabled students do not have equal access to disability services. A small percentage of fees collected from fees could be used to cover these important provisions. Maternity and Paternity Guidance: More support is needed for International women students who become pregnant while at university. We should make sure all Scholarship providers have provisions for maternity payments. Racism: I will work on reducing the attainment gap which exists between BME International students and their white counterparts.

11 #1 Immigration: Myths surrounding immigration creates a hostile environment. I will lobby the Government to back-track on the Immigration Act which has made a huge number of international students feel unwelcomed. This includes restrictions to Tier 4 Visas, NHS Charges and landlords checking Visa documentation while renting, as this discriminates against students on the basis of nationality and ethnicity. I will make sure institutions provide timely confirmation of international study letters as alternative proof of immigration status. I will fight to change the immigration system that makes the financial protection scheme necessary so that it places less risk on students sponsorship and ensures they are able to finish their courses or get a full refund in the event of a sponsor losing their Tier 4 license. Better Representation: I will make sure funding is available for international students to attend International Students conference as well as ensuring International Students campaigns are prioritised within NUS UK. Further, I will work to support the development of International reps within your Union and fight for full-time reps in the long term. I would like to set up regular regional meetings for Diversity, Welfare and Community officers, across the UK, to get involved with international students' campaigns My Experience: I was one of the Glasgow Girls ; campaigned nationally to stop deportations and changing UK law. Scholarships for Asylum Seekers; fought for ground-breaking scholarships for asylum seekers, putting asylum on to the national agenda with the first scholarships in Scotland. Hardship Fund for International Students: supported USSA creating the firstever international hardship fund in Scotland. Post-study Work Visas: Campaigned to the Scottish and UK Governments, leading the Scottish student movement s discussions on reintroducing Poststudy Work Visas in Scotland and would like to see this rolled out across the UK. Kurdish Struggle: As a Kurd, I believe NUS should fight for international issues and equality; I launched campaigns through NUS to highlight our struggle and fight for solidarity. ROZA SALIH FOR NUS INTERNATIONAL STUDENT OFFICER Roza's work in fighting for the right of asylum seekers and in linking in with trade unions to raise support for the Kurdish people shows she is an excellent and experienced campaigner. She would be an asset to any organisation Stephen Smellie, Deputy Convenor UNISON Scotland. Roza is passionate about social justice and has a very good track record of campaigning both for UK and international issues. Roza is a confident and articulate activist. She is positive, energetic and possesses leadership quality that makes her well qualified for the role of the NUS UK International Students Officer Nazek Ramadan, Director, Migrant Voice Roza would make an amazing officer and would really benefit all international students nationally! Anastasia Mamaeva, International Officer, Leicester Student Union. It is evident that Roza would do whatever it takes to create a fairer education system that is free from all kinds of discrimination, including but not limited to women s and BME rights. Shrouk El-Attar, International Student Officer, NUS Wales & Cardiff University Fixed Fees and Free Education: I have campaigned to get this on the agenda at my university, across Scotland, and at the front of student manifestos. Campaigned successfully to give Erasmus and International students the vote at Strathclyde so they can fully participate in student life. Intersectionality: I have previously led campaigns against sexual violence & harassment, promoting the Black Lives Matter movement, campaigning for accessibility for disabled students on campus, as well as the implementation of gender neutral toilets at Strathclyde. This isn t my full manifesto and I d love to chat to you about all I want to do, check me out at:

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