Henry Lodge

In 1997, Tony Blair set up the International Student Initiative. It aimed to open the UK’s borders to more international students, giving them access to first class higher education and providing cash-strapped universities with extra fees. Now, in 2007, the story of Cleopatra Mukula – a Kenyan student attempting to take a PhD course in the UK – makes it clear that there is still a long way to go. She spoke to The Beaver about the bureaucratic nightmare she has suffered over the past year.

Cleopatra was born in Mombasa and attended Kenyan state schools until she came to England for a law degree at Sussex University. Her interests remained closer to home. Following a change in degree to healthcare and law and while studying for a Masters in filmmaking at Brunel University, she was already making plans for the future.
“It always struck me that the majority of aid that Africa receives is a short term solution,” she said. Education, she thought, was the key. But how was one to deliver an effective education to an under-funded and widely illiterate population? “Then it hit me: radio, or maybe TV.”
She won a bursary to make a film – titled Umoja (Swahili for “Unity”) – which focused on the lives of ostracised women of the Maasai tribe who were raped by British soldiers in the 1960s and 1970s.
The film was completed in late 2006 and screened at the Channel 4 cinema where it caught producers’ eyes. Cleopatra began refining the documentary for further screenings in May this year, graduated from her Masters’ course in July and was formally accepted for a PhD course at Brunel University, which she planned to start in September.
Around April, her plans were interrupted and work on her documentary suspended. Her student visa application had been denied on the grounds of, amongst other things, “bad character”. The previous three visa applications had been approved without any problems. As a spokesperson from Brunel University put it, “She is, if you like, the ideal student. She does a lot of work at the university for students.”

She appealed against the decision. Although the judge was largely on her side, he was powerless to grant her the visa as it had to go through channels at the Home Office.

The result of her second application came through in early September, by which time she had been formally accepted for her PhD course. Her rejection letter stated: "The Secretary of State is not satisfied that you intend to leave the United Kingdom at the end of your studies, nor is he satisfied that you intend to follow the course of study…if you do not leave voluntarily, you may be prosecuted for an offence under the Immigration Act 1971, the penalty for which is a fine of up to £2,500 and/or up to six months' imprisonment."
In the time between the appeal and the second rejection, the law had changed, removing her right to appeal. Instead, she took her story to the Guardian newspaper. After her story was published, she received a letter informing her that the Home Office had agreed to reconsider her case.

Following the positive response to Umoja, Cleopatra started to develop a film company, www.films4africa.com. She said, “I couldn’t understand why the fair trade initiative revolved solely around goods. Why not extend it to services?” The company seeks to make documentaries and films in Africa, for Africa, with the proceeds going to Africa.

She recently set up a charity, the Peggoty Foundation (named after her late aunt), which seeks to raise money to put disadvantaged children into education in Kenya. Now Cleopatra has a new cause to add to her workload: the plight of the international student. “This isn’t just about my case, this is part of something bigger. I have friends from abroad studying here that have no idea of the pitfalls of being an international student.”

There are a number of Kenyan students at the LSE. Yvonne Maingey, a second year Law student who intends to do a Masters degree, is currently on a student visa. She told The Beaver, “The number of British travellers and students that Kenya welcomes with open arms – it’s frustrating to think that Kenyan students, who pay an arm and a leg to come and study here, have to go through this horrible, nasty experience. The government needs to practice what it preaches – refusing African students is hardly making poverty history.”
Visit www.films4africa.com and www.peggoty.org.uk for more information on Cleopatra’s work.