Victim of degree scam who helped Home Office convict perpetrators denied right to remain in UK

Muddasar Hussain says his life has been ruined after being stripped of immigration rights

Muddasar Hussain

The victim of a college degree scam who helped the Home Office convict the perpetrators has been ordered to leave the UK in what has been described as an “appalling story of misery”.

Muddasar Hussain, 42, said his life had been “ruined” to the point where he was driven to attempt to suicide, after he was stripped of his immigration rights on the basis of deception, despite the government having acknowledged that he was a victim in the case.

Politicians and charities accused the Home Office of “inflicting misery on an innocent man” by using him as a key witness in a case against two fraudsters and then leaving him without status or access to his rights.

The Pakistani national, who arrived to the UK as a student in 2008, and was the first person in his family to go into higher education, completed a master’s degree in health policy at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2012.

During this time, he also decided also decided to enrol onto an MBA “top-up” course at the Kensington College of Business – a decision he said caused his life to “turn upside down“.

After completing the MBA, which required him to submit a dissertation, Mr Hussain applied to the Home Office for a post-work study visa – but this was refused in September 2012 on the grounds that he had submitted false documentation with his application, which he said came as a “total shock”.

“It was refused on the basis of deception. They put allegations that I could not speak English while I was doing an LSE degree. It was a nightmare,” he says. “I could not understand what had happened and how it happened. I had worked extremely hard and completed my dissertation.”

The MBA had been illegitimate and the people running the course had been producing fraudulent certificates, which were then used by Mr Hussain and other students to make visa applications to the Home Office. Two men were later sentenced to prison for conspiracy and fraud.

“I was completely out of my mind. I was someone who had lost everything. The aim of my life, my parents’ dreams, everything was ruined. I couldn’t think of anything else. I thought I’d better leave now. There was no future here,” Mr Hussain added.

A month later, the Pakistani national, who at this point had a student visa valid for for another year, was asked to attend a meeting with the Home Office investigations team. He said he arrived with his luggage, ready to leave to return to Pakistan.

But the investigations team reportedly requested that he remain in the UK because he had “very strong evidence” for the investigation into the fraudsters who administered the false MBA degree.

In the months that followed, Mr Hussain said he did all he could to help the investigators, trying to find “every single avenue” and provide “all possible evidence” to support the Home Office probe.

For this reason, he was shocked to receive a letter from the Home Office in February 2013 saying his student visa had been curtailed and that he must leave within two months.

Mr Hussain said that when he told the investigators this, they advised him to apply for another visa. But this too was refused on the grounds that he had “previously presented false documentation in an attempt to obtain leave to remain”. He said the investigators then ceased to respond to his emails and calls.

A Home Office spokesperson told The Independent they accepted that Mr Hussain was the victim of fraud, but that “at no point was it suggested to [him] by Home Office staff that his testifying in the criminal proceedings would positively impact his immigration application”.

They also said that he repeatedly failed to follow processes that are designed to safeguard international students, including failing to notify the department that he had changed colleges.

When Mr Hussain disclosed the situation to his parents in Pakistan, he said they were “distraught”: “They thought that I brought disappointment to the family. I tried to explain to them what had happened, but they wouldn’t accept it. I was put into a situation where I couldn’t explain to them what was going on.

“My support from them was completely cut off. They cut off everything. My dad disowned me. He had every penny of earnings on me to get a better life and an education.”

The Pakistani national continued to fight his case with the Home Office and through the courts, but has been refused at every stage.

After a refusal in 2014, Mr Hussain said he attempted to take a lethal overdose, which was only prevented when his house mate found out and made him throw up. After this he moved to Manchester to stay with his cousin, where he has been living since and, without rights to work, relied on his charity.

A statement from one of the Home Office investigators in July 2015 stated that Mr Hussain gave “compelling evidence” and described how his life had been “shattered” by the actions of the two perpetrators.

“The worst aspect of the case were the students who were duped and believed that they had studied and Mr Hussain exemplified this with his victim statement,” it read.

Mr Hussain said: “I cannot understand what has happened and how this can happen to me, I was genuine, I am genuine and I will be genuine throughout my life. I have never submitted any false document and I cannot think about ever doing that.

“This refusal has ruined my life and career and the reflection of this disappointment will remain with me forever. I am living under constant depression and fear that all future applications I make will be refused by the Home Office as they believe I have used deception.

“I have studied for the last four years in the UK and feel all my dedication and achievements in my studies have now amounted to nothing. The result of my blood and tears has ended up with nothing.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: “This is an appalling story of misery being inflicted on this poor man. Under successive Tory governments the practice of the Home Office has become more complex, more arbitrary and less humane.

“The government claims to have ended its ‘hostile environment’, but this case and many others show that they really haven’t changed at all.”

Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, said: “This is a particularly shocking example of how some Home Office decisions are needlessly ruining the lives of innocent, law-abiding people in this country.

“The Home Office acknowledged that Muddasar is a victim of fraud, trusted him and used him as a key witness in their case against the fraudsters – then betrayed him, leaving him without status, without access to his rights, and without a future.

“He has done everything asked of him, and more, yet he has been punished. The Home Office has made repeated promises to resolve his situation, but has repeatedly failed to do so.

“Muddasar’s lost years are lost forever and the scars from this experience may never heal, but the government must now give him the right to stay, to work and to finish his studies – and the Home Office must be reformed so that no one else faces an injustice such as this.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “While we are sympathetic to his situation, he has no valid leave to remain in the country."