Postgraduate battles cancer and university to stay in UK

Supporters of a master’s student who was diagnosed with terminal cancer while studying in the UK have said her experience shows the struggles international students face when trying to access support.

Riham Sheble had only just started a full-time film and television course at the University of Warwick when she was sexually assaulted in 2018. While receiving trauma support, she learned she had contracted uterine sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

She had major surgery in April 2021 and then started chemotherapy, but the cancer spread to her spine and she is now in and out of hospital as doctors consider other therapies to keep her alive.

Ms Sheble, an Egyptian native who came to the UK from Qatar, said she was determined to finish her studies but has faced a battle to secure extensions to her course from Warwick, with her right to remain in the UK under threat as a result. Like all international students, she pays a surcharge to access the NHS and being forced to leave the country would also put her treatment at risk. 

The university initially turned down her latest request for an extension, but it has since relented and has given her until the end of February to finish her studies, allowing her to apply to extend her visa until June.

Ms Sheble said she had endured “two months of agony” before the decision was reversed and accused the university of failing in its duty to provide pastoral care to all students.

Despite there being a “plethora of ways” that the university could have helped to make the situation easier, Warwick “has failed to make any proper adjustments to facilitate me finishing my degree”, Ms Sheble alleged.

She also feared what would happen if she had to apply for a further extension. “I do not know if I will be alive by June of next year and I will be pleasantly surprised if I am because of the way the disease is progressing; it looks bad day after day and I have been given just months to live,” she said.

“But what if I need another extension? I really doubt they are going to give me one and we will go through the same fight again.”

Sanaz Raji, a visiting researcher at Northumbria University and founder of the campaign group Unis Resist Border Controls (URBC), said the case was a “stark and troubling example” of how migrant students are treated in the UK.

She said the “marketised higher education sector” and “hostile environment policy” – designed by the UK government to discourage migrants from staying in the country – created “many barriers to their safety and well-being”. 

“Migrant students find themselves in a maze, with very little support because of these issues,” she added.

Ms Sheble said she felt international students were in a “vulnerable” position and they often “don’t want to jeopardise their position at the university” or fear speaking up against unjust treatment because it might affect their immigration status.

“I know for a fact that I am not the only one suffering. My situation is emblematic of how migrant students are treated across the UK and how universities here are implicated in the hostile environment the Home Office propagates,” she said.

Nicola Pratt, professor of international politics of the Middle East at Warwick, who has been supporting Ms Sheble, said the campaign will continue. “It is not just Warwick that has these problems, it is across the sector. We are giving Warwick the opportunity to take a lead in the sector and consider these issues, and I hope they have a change of attitude as soon as possible,” she said.

A Warwick spokeswoman said: “The health and well-being of our students and staff is of the utmost importance. As such, the university provides an extensive range of support options to our community, including disabled and international students. This is delivered by our dedicated team of disability support advisers.

“Our student support team also has considerable expertise with supporting visa extensions submitted to the Home Office that is compatible and in line with our responsibilities of being a sponsor of international students.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com