Foreign students studying sensitive subjects at Midland universities are to be vetted by the security services for potential terrorist links. The Government plans tough new measures to check on those arriving from countries of concern including Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Cuba. Courses which will be particularly monitored will include physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and computer science. But the move, currently in consultation stage, has angered some university lecturers who claim that it will damage student-teacher relations. One Midland lecturer, who asked not to be named, told the Sunday Mercury: These proposals will compromise the universitys autonomy and compromise our relationships with students. A compulsory vetting scheme will transform our role from one of supervisor to one of surveillance. Of course we dont want terrorists coming to study at British universities and gaining access to potentially lethal chemicals. But no one wants a situation where every student from the Middle East is immediately put under suspicion. In 1994, the Government introduced a voluntary vetting scheme for foreign students studying sensitive subjects. But the Foreign Office now wants to make checks compulsory in the run-up to a possible war with Iraq. In a response to a recent Government green paper on the new checks, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee said: We are concerned existing measures to regulate the use of biotechnology research in this country may be insufficient to prevent dangerous materials falling into the hands of terror-ist groups. Our anxiety is that a fully-qualified research scientist, who - unknown to the authorities - was a supporter of a terrorist group and could be admitted to a postgraduate or other research institution within the UK to pursue an approved programme of research. Such a scientist could thus gain unhindered access to dangerous materials. We recommend that, in light of current threats to the security of the UK, the Government takes steps to strengthen its controls over biotechnological research in British universities and research institutions. The feedback from consultation will be considered by the Government next month before a final decision on the new legislation is made. The Midlands has already seen one terrorist alert at a university. A month after September 11, an al-Qaida terrorist suspect was found on a Birmingham campus. Abu Albouymi, who was on a PhD course at Aston University, was arrested and detained on suspicion of terrorism but was later released. He has since disappeared. Paul Cottrell, of the Association of University Teachers, said his members would object to any new legislation. We have no reason to believe that the current, voluntary system is not effective, he said. A compulsory system seems unnecessary. We would be concerned about universities becoming associated with a compulsory vetting system because of the possible effect on its relationship with students. | 
