ashraf haziq

The Malaysian student who was the victim of one of the most shocking videos to come out of the London riots last year has hit the headlines again this week, after his attackers were sentenced to prison.

In August 2011, twenty-year-old Ashraf Rossli was caught up in the riots in Barking, East London. He was punched to the floor, suffering a broken jaw in the process, before apparently being helped to his feet by one of the rioters. However, as he was standing groggily, another man opened up his rucksack and helped himself to Ashraf's mobile phone and PSP games console.

Attackers Sentenced

The two assailants who rifled through Ashraf's bag were found to be John Kafunda, 22, and Reece Donovan, 24. Both were convicted of robbery last week, before being sentenced this morning. Kafunda was jailed for four years and three months, whilst Donovan received a five-year sentence. Ashraf gave evidence in court, describing:

Over the last six months there have been several incidents that from the outside could suggest international students are no longer welcome in the UK. First there was the Malaysian student Ashraf Haziq who was the victim of one of the most shocking videos to come out of the London riots (pictured above).

More recently there was the tragic murder of Indian student Anuj Bivde in Manchester on Boxing Day. Similarly, though clearly on a lesser scale, there was the symptomatic story that came out of Plymouth last week of shop keepers banning foreign students from entering in groups.

On top of this, there is currently the perceived notion that the British government is trying to make it harder for international students to gain entry to the UK with the introduction of harsher visa laws. This and the recent incidents together make it easy to assume that there is a growing trend in Britain against international students.

Hundreds of messages for Ashraf Haziq have flooded in from around the world over the last week as the public have shown their huge support for him. After the video of him being robbed became one of the iconic images of the London riots, ForeignStudents.com started a campaign to show our support, and the response has been overwhelming.

The Attack

On Monday last week, Ashraf was caught up in the riots in Barking, East London, where his plight was captured on video. The video shows him sitting dazed and bleeding on a London pavement, before it appears that he is helped up by one of the rioters. However, as he is being held up, another of the young rioters opens his rucksack, searches through it and pulls out his mobile phone and wallet, walking off with both of them.