Many loved ones are due to fly to the capital this week and were only told of the cancellation two days ago, leaving no time to cancel flights and hotel bookings.
Some students say they weren’t sent emails about the decision and only learned about the disappointing news over social media.
Law student Akarsha Weerasooriya told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s devastating , coming from this part of the world it’s not that easy going over there. Many people spent their life savings. Some people didn’t get the email on time, some people found out through Instagram.’
Akarsha, 21, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, says students are yet to be given a new date for the ceremony but he doubts his family will be able to make the trip again.
He asked why the university couldn’t have held smaller ceremonies to try and reduce the risk of families catching the deadly new strain of coronavirus, recently named Covid-19.
In a bid to treasure the moment in their own way, Akarsha posed with his mum, dad and sister yesterday for their own graduation photo. His family spent £6,130 on visas, flights and hotels for four family members and are due to land in London tomorrow, meaning there’s no time to cancel plans.
His mum Nayomini, who runs a PR agency, planned a year in advance for the trip to the ceremony, due to take place at the Barbican Centre on March 3.
She and her lawyer husband cleared their busy diaries for three weeks to make the most of their trip to Europe, which they’d be unlikely to do again anytime soon.
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