Monday, December 23, 2024

Indian students stage indefinite protest in Toronto

These students came to Canada between 2017 and 2019. Later, they received notices from the CBSA in 2021 and last year, for a hearing as the agency concluded the letter of offer of admission to a Canadian higher education institution was ‘fake’

Facing deportation from Canada as their entry into the country was facilitated by India agents using fraudulent documentation, several international students are staging indefinite protests in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA. They said the protest will continue till the deportation process is stopped.

These students started the protest at a makeshift location on Airport Road in Mississauga and hope for a resolution to their collective problem.

These students came to Canada between 2017 and 2019. Later, they received notices from the CBSA in 2021 and last year, for a hearing as the agency concluded the letter of offer of admission to a Canadian higher education institution was ‘fake.’

Most of the affected students were represented by the agent Brijesh Mishra of the Jalandhar-based counselling firm EMSA Education and Migration Services Australia.

There are over 30 other such students who are facing such removal proceedings, though all cases haven’t escalated to the final order being passed, as yet. Just like Lovepreet, another student, Karamjeet Kaur, from Edmonton and originally from Faridkot, was also facing deportation on May 30, but was given a temporary stay on the grounds that her safety would be compromised if she returned to India. These affected students hope that the government will respond positively to their plight

These protesting students said they had been victimized for no fault of theirs. In an open letter under the banner of Victim Students released in March, the students said they were desperate for justice and have become victims of fraud. “We have no criminal level but facing a removal order,” they said in a statement.

The protest was triggered by a removal order received by Lovepreet Singh, who is originally from Mohali in Punjab. In the notice, he has been asked by the Canadian Border Services Agency or CBSA to leave the country on June 13.

Inder Singh, one of the protesting students, originally from Amritsar, said they would continue protesting till Lovepreet’s deportation on June 13 was cancelled and a solution is found to their cases.

There are over 30 other such students who are facing such removal proceedings, though all cases haven’t escalated to the final order being passed, as yet. Just like Lovepreet, another student, Karamjeet Kaur, from Edmonton and originally from Faridkot, was also facing deportation on May 30, but was given a temporary stay on the grounds that her safety would be compromised if she returned to India. These affected students hope that the government will respond positively to their plight.

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