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'.
Temperatures surpassed 40 C for days in last summer's so-called heat dome in B.C., resulting in almost 600 heat-related deaths, most of them elderly and vulnerable people living in buildings without air conditioning.
The centre says its laboratory has confirmed the infection in a resident of Vancouver, but it is awaiting further confirmation by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. It says in a statement that Vancouver Coastal Health is conducting public health followup on the case.
Jack Weisgerber, who was energy, mines and petroleum resources minister in the Social Credit government of former Premier Bill Vander Zalm, and was B.C.'s first minister of native affairs, was 81 years old.
As a cornerstone of Canada's economic growth, federal immigration policy strikes a delicate balance between economic, humanitarian and labour-policy priorities, all the while preserving public buy-in to keep the ever-present political dangers at bay, Selee said.
Flood watches were posted Sunday for the Dean River in the Fraser Plateau east of Bella Coola and for the Liard River and its tributaries around the northeastern B.C. community of Fort Nelson and along Highway 97 toward Watson Lake.
Wildfires last year destroyed most the village of Lytton and forced almost 200 evacuation orders during a near-record season where 1,610 wildfires charred 8,682 square kilometres of land, primarily in southern and southeastern B.C.
