Marius Youbi, described as ‘the best we have’ by Aarhus University, exceeded limit for hours and had to return to Cameroon

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Denmark has expelled a top foreign undergraduate because he worked for 90 minutes more than the 15 hours a week the law allows overseas students to spend doing a part-time job.

Marius Youbi, 30, an electrical engineering student described by Aarhus University as “the best we have”, flew home to Cameroon on Thursday morning after being told by the Danish agency for recruitment and integration in December that he must leave the country by 8 January.

An investigation by the agency found that, in some weeks, he had spent 16-and-a-half hours on his cleaning job, one-and-a-half hours over the limit for foreign students. It rejected Youbi’s complaint that, averaged out over the year, his hours did not exceed the limit, and revoked his residency permit.

“I am sorry and disappointed,” Youbi told public broadcaster DR. “All this work has gone to waste. Four-and-a-half years have gone up in smoke.” Preparing to board his flight at Billund airport, he added: “I have built something up in Denmark. It’s hard to say goodbye to so much.”

Faced with the expulsion order, the university had earlier agreed to bring forward Youbi’s end-of-term exams. He sat three test papers on the same day, passing them all with top marks.

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Per Lysgaard, an associate professor at the university, told the broadcaster: “Both I and the university think this is a totally unfair, harsh punishment for working too much. He has paid for his study, so he should be allowed to take his exams. He’s the best student we have right now.”

A petition to halt the deportation garnered 18,100 signatures, describing Youbi as “a very nice and talented guy, well liked by everyone who meets him … who needs just two semesters to finish with his education”.

The petition noted that as a non-EU student, Youbi faced tuition fees of 46,000 Dkr (£4,600) a term on top of his living expenses, adding: “Let us show that Denmark has a heart!”

Pushed by the far-right Danish People’s party, which won 21% of the vote in the election in June, Denmark has significantly toughened its stance on foreigners in recent years. The anti-immigrant DPP has propped up successive minority governments, obliging them to adopt increasingly hardline policies in exchange for parliamentary support.

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Earlier this month, Denmark and Sweden took steps to radically reduce their numbers of refugees and asylum seekers by temporarily reintroducing border controls. Denmark’s centre-right prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has called for a debate on changes to the 1951 Geneva conventions if Europe cannot limit migrant numbers.

Last month the government proposed allowing police to confiscate valuables from refugees to help cover their costs – one of 34 proposals aimed at tightening Denmark’s refugee policy, 12 of which have been passed. About 18,500 migrants applied for asylum in Denmark last year.

Danish immigration authorities are currently examining a formal complaint by another foreign student, Shalik Ram Bhattarai, 28, from Nepal, against a similar decision ordering him to leave the country with his wife and three-year-old son, because he had worked too many hours.