Will evaluate each case: Trudeau on Indian students facing deportation
Darpan News Desk IANS, 08 Jun, 2023 11:02 AM
New Delhi/Ottawa, June 8 (IANS) Assuring the 700 Indian students who are facing deportation from Canada over fake admission letters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said they will evaluate each case and the victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation and present evidence to support their case.
The remarks came as hundreds of Indian students, mostly from Punjab, have been taking on to the streets in Canada saying they were cheated by their immigration consultation agency in India that provided them fake documents, of which they were unaware of.
"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," Trudeau said during a parliament debate on Wednesday.
"Victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation and present evidence to support their case," the Prime Minister said, while responding to Sikh-origin NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's concerns on the state of defrauded students, who are set to be deported his month.
"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," Trudeau said.
Singh's NDP is reportedly preparing to introduce a unanimous consent motion in Parliament to cancel removal orders to support these students while also facilitating a pathway to permanent residency for them.
It will also assist students who could face deportation due to bogus enrollment offers.
"So my question is... will the Prime Minister stay the deportation of all these students that are impacted and provide a pathway to permanent residency for these students?" Singh asked Trudeau, presenting the case of victims.
According to the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA), more than 700 Indian students are reportedly facing deportation after finding that their educational institution's admission offer letters were fake.
Most of these students had come to the country to study in 2018 and 2019.
The fraud was discovered when the students applied for permanent residency in Canada.
Brijesh Mishra, a Jalandhar-based agent, was responsible for providing fake admission letters, charging students thousands of dollars.
He charged more than Rs 16 lakh per student in addition to admission fees claiming to get them to prestigious colleges.
Meanwhile, students have been continuing with their sit-ins since May 29 at Airport Road of Mississauga, outside the CBSA's head office, holding banners saying, 'Unite against deportation', 'Stop deportation' and 'We want justice'.
North Vancouver R-C-M-P say they were alerted to a man "causing public alarm" Monday morning on the Mosquito Creek trail under an overpass, and officers had to confront his "aggressive" and threatening behaviour.
The British Columbia government has released 12 priorities for anti-racism research in its first update since the Anti-Racism Data Act came into effect last June. The province says the focus will be in areas such as racial diversity within the public service, interactions with the justice system and how health care and education differs for various demographic groups.
Kwan said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spent an hour with her on Friday laying out the intelligence it possesses that she has been targeted by China since before the 2019 federal election over her advocacy for human rights in Hong Kong and for the Uyghur Muslim minority in China.
R-C-M-P in Surrey have charged a 15-year-old with a handful of street robberies. Police say they responded to three separate robbery reports on April 24th where bear spray was used to help the suspect steal cellphones and headphones.
Police have said she was 20 years old when she was last seen early in the morning of May 28, 2011. She had been at a party celebrating a friend's birthday at Hogsback Lake outside Vanderhoof, in central B.C.
B-C's minimum wage will jump by one-dollar-and-10-cents per hour before the end of this week. The boost to the general minimum wage will increase it to 16-dollars-and-75-cents per hour on June 1st -- up from the current rate of 15-dollars-and-65-cents.
