More than 700 Indian students are facing deportation from Canada after the authorities found the admission offer letters of these students to educational institutions fake. The affected students received deportation letters from the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) recently. Most of them had come to Canada in 2018 and 2019 to pursue their studies. However, CBSA discovered the doctored letters while some applied for permanent residency. The affected students say they were duped by unscrupulous education consultants in India who did not disclose that the college admission letter they provided them with was fake.
Most of the duped students came to Canada based on the fake acceptance letters procured by a Jalandhar-based agent, Brijesh Mishra. Mishra ran a firm called Education Migration Services. He charged lakhs of rupees from each student and procured offers in the name of several colleges, including Humber College, a reputed private university. He also shifted them from their original colleges after landing in Canada, citing different reasons. Mishra is now absconding.
The Canadian government has since suspended the license of Mishra’s company and launched an investigation into the role of other education consultancies involved in the scam. The immigration ministry is also probing the role of the embassy officials who granted visas based on these fake acceptance letters.
Affected students are protesting at the CBSA headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. They want to meet the federal minister for public safety, Marco Mendicino, who can halt the deportations. Avtar Dhaliwal, who leads one of the advocacy groups, told The CBC that he hopes the meeting will help reverse the deportation orders.
PM assures victims of fraudulent acceptance letter cases.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has assured those Indian students facing deportation from Canada for accepting fake admission offer letters that their cases will be evaluated and they will be able to demonstrate their situation. He also said that those who committed the fraud would be penalized.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has taken up the issue with the Canadian government. He has written to the immigration minister, saying innocent students should not be penalized for someone else’s crime.
Liberal MP Shafqat Ali, who represents Brampton Centre in the Parliament of Canada, has been fighting for the affected students. He has asked that the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which includes MPs from all parties, examine the issue. He has also urged that the Ottawa embassy support the students. “This is a huge scandal, and we cannot let this happen,” he said. “The embassy should provide the students with assistance and help them with legal aid so that they do not have to face any problems.” Several other politicians have also spoken against the deportation of these Indian students.