Scottish court rules in favor of Iraq-born migrant in tuition-fee case

Dundee University campus in Scotland where Ola Jasim is now in her third year of medicine. (Shutterstock)

• Ola Jasim, 20, was denied free education in breach of EU rules
• She is now in her third year of medicine at Dundee University

LONDON: The result of a high-profile court case in Scotland has forced the government to change the country’s university tuition-fee law for migrants, the BBC reported on Thursday.
The Court of Session case found that 20-year-old Iraq-born Ola Jasim, who has lived in Scotland since the age of 11, had her human rights breached by being denied free tuition.
Jasim said her parents were forced to borrow money from other family members to meet her tuition fees, and the family’s financial predicament had forced them to abandon “small things” that “bring joy in your life.”
Scotland offers free tuition to domestic university students, but Jasim was denied on account of being two months short of the required stay in the country.
She applied to study medicine two years ago, but was told by authorities that she failed to qualify for the country’s residency rules.
A person aged under 18 on the commencement of their university degree must be ordinarily resident in Scotland and have lived in the UK for seven years to qualify for free tuition. Those aged 18-25 have to have lived in the UK for either half their life or 20 years.
Jasim’s court case found that previous instances of Scotland denying free tuition to migrants were unlawful as a result of breaches to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Her court victory is expected to have widespread ramifications for hundreds of migrant students in Scotland, setting a legal precedent that ensures their right to free tuition.
Jasim, who is now in her third year of medicine at Dundee University, told the BBC: “For the past couple of years I have been my parents’ biggest financial burden and they have not only not had to look after themselves properly but my sisters as well because everything was going into me.
“It was a lot of guilt for me to deal with. My parents never complained about it but I could see the difference it made in their lives.
“(The decision) made me feel discriminated against even though this is what I call home. You are really trapped. It was a lose-lose situation.
“Now I know the law is changing, hopefully a lot of people’s lives will be changed too because it is not just me who has been so badly treated.”
Jasim was represented by lawyer Andy Sirel, who said: “The Scottish government like to talk about how they are a pro-human rights government and are opposed to the UK government down south but with these rules they effectively copied and pasted the UK immigration rules on educational policy and have fallen in line with the home secretary.
“Now if you are going to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk. On this situation we did not think the Scottish government had got it right. The court agreed and the Scottish government has been held to account.”