External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that it is unfair on part of the Canadian authorities to punish a student who undertook their education in good faith. Jaishankar added action needs to be taken against culpable parties if the students were misled by anyone. Jaishankar said he believes that the Canadians also accept that it would be unfair to punish a student if they have done no wrong.
As many as 700 Indian students from Punjab, who arrived in Canada, received deportation letters from the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) in May this year after their admission offers to educational institutions were found to be fake, India Today reported. The offer letters were allegedly provided to them by their agent in Jalandhar.
Reacting to the incident, Jaishankar told news agency ANI: "For some time now, there is this case of students, who the Canadians say, did not study in the college in which they should have and when they applied for a work permit, they got into difficulties. From the very start, we have taken up this case and our point is, the students studied in good faith”.
The stranded students have also reached out to Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser, who has assured them that he would look into the matter. The Canadian government is preparing to send the students back to India. Some of these students have also been sent back to India.
Jaishankar’s comments come after Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal wrote to the External Affairs Minister and shared the letter on Twitter. Dhaliwal tweeted: “Bhagwant Mann government is trying its best to help in the case of fraud by immigration representative with 700 Indian students trapped ni immigration fraud in Canada and demanded that students should not be deported and given work permits considering their visas”.
Dhaliwal wrote in his letter that students are innocent and have been cheated by fraudsters including the, officials in Canadian Embassy in India, and other agencies in Canada. He appealed Jaishankar to take up the matter with concerned agencies including High Commission of Canada and the Canadian government so that the students can be saved from deportation.
The Punjab NRI Affairs Minister also appealed to people of Punjab to check details of the college and records of the travel agent before going abroad or sending their children for studies.
(With inputs from Geeta Mohan)
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