New Delhi: Hundreds of Indian students in Canada are in crisis. The are facing threat of being deported from Canada. They have been holding protest against this move. Most of these students are from Punjab.
The students were accused by Canadian authorities of obtaining visas for Canadian universities on the basis of fake admission papers.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has recently issued deportation letters to about 700 Indian students. The letters were issued after the CBSE found that the admission offer papers of the students were fake.
Many of the protesting students claim they arrived in Canada in 2018, but the fake letters surfaced now, five years later, when they applied for permanent residency.
Chamandeep Singh, a protesting student, said, “When we reached Canada, our agent told us that seats were full in the colleges and he can shift us to another college. Since we didn’t want to lose the opportunity, we agreed.”
“We changed college and completed our studies, but after three-four years, we were told by the CBSE that the admission documents on the basis of which we got the visa was fake,” he said.
Lovepreet Singh, another protesting student, claimed that the fear of deportation has taken a toll on the mental health of the students, as a result of which many are even considering to commit suicide.
“We request the Government of India to take up this issue with the Government of Canada. We are innocent and have been scammed. Our lives are at stake, many may even commit suicide because of it. An estimate of 700, the actual number of affected students is much higher.”
“In fact, many victims are silent and not coming forward. I have received a notice of deportation for June 30. We put in our life savings to come to Canada and now we have been asked to go back.”
Punjab NRI Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal termed the fraud as one of the biggest immigration scams in recent history. “The students have spent a lot of money to go to Canada. Some families even sold their land to send their children abroad.”