Canadian parliamentary committee steps in for 700 Indian students facing deportation

Coming to the rescue of around 700 Indian students facing deportation, a Canadian parliamentary committee has stepped in to urge the border services agency to stop the deportation. The students who were duped by unscrupulous education consultants in India to enter the country with “fraudulent college admission letters” have been camping outside the agency office since the last three days seeking respite. The all-party immigration committee voted unanimously to call on the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to waive the inadmissibility of the affected students. The committee also asked the CBSA to provide the students, as many as 700 from India, with an alternative pathway to permanent residence on humanitarian grounds or through a “regularisation” programme.

The fraud came to light when these students primarily hailing from Punjab applied for permanent residency in Canada and the authorities during routine investigation found their “admission offer letters” fake.

Calling the students victims Jenny Kwan, a lawmaker who tabled the motion was quoted saying, “So as a first step, this is absolutely essential and necessary. The students are victims of fraud and should not be penalised. These students, I’ve met with many of them, are now in such a terrible state. They’ve lost money, and they are stuck in a terrible situation. And some of them have deportation orders. Others have pending meetings with CBSA.” According to Canadian media reports he was supported by Liberal MP Shafqat Ali of Brampton Centre where majority of these students reside.

“We need to have empathy for those students, and we should not exploit the situation and play politics on this issue of those innocent students. The students have ‘gone through and are going through a lot’,” he said.

Taking to Twitter, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser said, “We are actively pursuing a solution for International students who are facing uncertainty due to having been admitted to Canada with fraudulent college admission letters. Those who have taken advantage of people genuinely hoping to study here will face consequences for their actions”. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has issued a statement saying India has taken up the issue with Canadian authorities and PM Justin Trudeau has assured support.

“We are deeply aware of cases of international students facing removal orders over fraudulent college acceptance letters. To be clear, our focus is on identifying the culprits, not penalising the victims. Victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situations and present evidence to support their cases. We recognise the immense contributions international students bring to our country and we remain committed to supporting victims of fraud as we evaluate each case,” said the official statement issued by the Canadian Prime Minister.