‘I feel safer in China’: The international students fleeing the UK

Tens of thousands of Chinese students complete degrees in Britain every year, but fears for their safety amid the coronavirus pandemic have seen hundreds trying to get home, reports Emily Goddard

International students awaiting flights at Heathrow – many have struggled to get a ticket while others have had their bookings cancelled altogether (Kunyu Wang)

Memories of the past four years spent in Edinburgh come flooding back to Isaac Ma as he sits in his room packing the few belongings his bag can hold. The 22-year-old gives some of his possessions to a friend, but other things have to be thrown away. He is due to leave his shared flat in Newington in two days’ time to travel back to his native China – a trip he didn’t expect to have to make so soon.

Tens of thousands of Chinese students complete degrees in the UK every year, but fears for their safety amid the coronavirus pandemic have seen hundreds fleeing to return home.

“I’ve had loads of experiences and memories,” Ma, a final-year economics student at the University of Edinburgh, says. “I haven’t had any time to say goodbye to all of my friends. It’s sad.”