Immigration minister (Refugees and Citizenship) Sean Fraser said in Parliament that the Canadian government will offer an appropriate solution to the students who have been protesting against their possible deportation.
Fraser said this in a reply to MP Jenny Kwan, who represents the New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Indo-Canadian Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal.
“International students, who have been defrauded by a crooked consultant should not be punished with deportation and inadmissibility based on misrepresentation. They have invested everything they have for a better future.
“They work hard, they study hard and under very difficult conditions. They are under enormous strain and their lives are in limbo. The Liberals can eliminate this uncertainty by allowing them to stay in Canada and build the lives of their dreams. Will the Minister do the right thing, the compassionate thing and grant these International students a pathway to permanent residency,” Kwan said.
Fraser replied that he agreed with much of Kwan’s question.
He added, “I am glad to share that we have been working very hard as we discussed in a recent meeting, just a little more than a week ago.”
“We are working to develop a process to ensure that those innocent students who are the victims of fraud will have an opportunity to remain in Canada. However, to the extent that people committed fraud, or were complicit in a fraudulent scheme, they will bear the consequences of choosing not to follow Canada’s laws. I am hearing stories of students who are dealing with serious mental health concerns with the uncertainty that they are struggling with. We will put a process in place to allow them to prove that they were taken advantage of and provide an appropriate remedy for them.”
TOI had reported that the students arrived in Canada between 2017 and 2019.
Most of the affected students were represented by Brijesh Mishra, a Jalandhar-based agent.
The Canadian Border Services Agency in the course of its investigation detected that the letters of offer of admission to a Canadian higher education institution, that was required for a study permit in Canada, were fake.
On arrival in Canada, these students were asked to shift to another college and not the one on the basis of which they got the study permit and gained entry into Canada.
The irregularities largely came to light when the students tried to gain permanent residency.