Relief for Indian students facing deportation from Canada as minister says task force to look into each case

Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser on Wednesday announced temporary relief to Indian students facing deportation from Canada on charges of obtaining visas using fake admission letters.

Fraser said Temporary Resident Permits will be issues to international students whose acceptance letters were found to be fraudulent but did not have any knowledge of such documents and came to Canada “with a genuine intent to study”.

Fraser said a task force comprising of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials will determine if a student was complicit in the fraud on a case-by-case basis.

Fraser said IRCC is freezing deportation orders for international students allegedly defrauded by the immigration scam in India. Until the task force makes its final decision on all the cases, the deportation orders will be put on hold.

“I want to make it clear that international students who are not found to be involved in fraud will not face deportation," the minister said.

Fraser further said: “Many of these international students sincerely came to Canada to pursue their studies and were duped by bad actors who claim to be helping them in the immigration application process.”

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said all students "genuinely victimised" by the scam will be given more years to work or complete education in Canada.

The students have been protesting on the streets in front of the CBSA since the last two weeks.

Last week, the immigration minister said they were stalling one deportation order. Wednesday's announcement would mean relief for dozens of such students affected by the alleged scam.

Brijesh Mishra, suspected of forging documents, has been on the run since the news broke out in March this year.  

Jalandhar's Commissioner of Police confirmed that Mishra has fled to the US. 

India has repeatedly been urging Canadian authorities to be fair and take a humanitarian approach since the students were allegedly victims of some agents.

PTI reported earlier this week that its sources said that the actual number of Indian students facing deportation from Canada is much less than 700. ''Most of these students had gone to Canada during 2017-2019. After completing their studies, some of them obtained work permits, while others continue to study in Canada,'' said a source.

India has been taking up the matter with Canadian authorities, in Canada and in New Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took up with matter with his Canadian counterpart. ''Canadian authorities were repeatedly urged to be fair and take a humanitarian approach since the students were not at fault,'' said the source cited above.

''It was also pointed out that there were gaps in the Canadian system and a lack of diligence, owing to which the students were granted visa and also allowed to enter Canada,'' it added.

In the last few days, Canadian parliamentarians across political parties have spoken in support of the students.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the need for fair treatment of the students.

With inputs from PTI