There are over 30 students facing removal proceedings, though all the cases haven’t escalated to the final order being passed. Another 130 cases are being investigated
Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship recently mentioned that the focus was not to penalise victims. The minister’s statement came as many international students who came to Canada between 2017 and 2021 on study permits generated on the basis of false documents were facing deportation, reported news18.com.
However, the students impacted by the fake documentation claim that they were being penalised, according to a report in Hindustan Times.
The report said that a Lovepreet Singh from Mohali in Punjab received a removal order from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to leave the country on June 13.
Singh, who studied at the Lambton College in the town of Mississauga said that the students were victimised several times by the agents in India and the institutions in Canada. He further said that the institutions used them to boost earnings to businesses that required cheap labour.
Singh studied at the Lambton College in the Greater Toronto Area and said he was represented by the agent Atul Mahajan of the immigration firm Orange Overseas.
Canadian MP Jenny Kwan urged the government to act immediately to stop the unjust deportations. “Right now, students who came to Canada for university are under threat of deportation. I wrote to the minister on Thursday, May 25 urgently calling for action to help these students who, unknowingly, received fraudulent travel doc from bad actors making money from deceit,” she said in a tweet.
The affected international students have been protesting for some time now in opposition to the removal order. There are over 30 students facing removal proceedings, though all the cases haven’t escalated to the final order being passed. Another 130 cases are being investigated, the report said.
The students started receiving notices from the CBSA since 2021 for a hearing as the agency said that the letter of offer for admission to the Canadian higher education institution was “fake”. The students, however, said they were being victimized for someone else’s fault. “We are desperate for justice; we are victims of fraud; we have no criminal level but facing a removal order,” the students said in an open letter.
Meanwhile, Canadian MP Jenny Kwan urged the government to act immediately to stop the unjust deportations. “Right now, students who came to Canada for university are under threat of deportation. I wrote to the minister on Thursday, May 25 urgently calling for action to help these students who, unknowingly, received fraudulent travel doc from bad actors making money from deceit,” she said in a tweet.
“International students are a huge part of university towns across our country. They help our economy, contribute talent. International students should have confidence they’ll be treated well, our processes are trustworthy,” she added.
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