Canada refuses to disclose number of students facing deportation

Tribune News Service

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, March 16

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has refused to give details related to the total number of Indian students facing deportation as their visa documents turned out to be fake.

Though the media reports quoting unnamed sources claimed that around 700 students were at the risk of deportation, the CBSA disputed the accuracy of such reports.

Maria Ladouceur, spokesperson, CBSA, said, “An individual’s border and immigration information is considered private and protected by the Privacy Act. There are very strict parameters concerning what the CBSA may or may not say regarding specific cases

or individuals.”

The students who had received deportation notices said the exact number was not known to anyone.

Inderjit Singh, a resident of Amritsar, who migrated to Canada on a study visa in 2019, said, “We have formed a WhatsApp group of the affected students. Only 70 pupils are members of this group. Though the number could be more, there’s no data related to 700 students.”

He said they had received these notices in April and May last year. “Karamjeet Kaur of Faridkot, who applied for a permanent residency (PR) in 2021, was the first Indian student to receive the notice. After a legal fight, she has been ordered to leave the country,” said Inder, adding that their chance of winning the cases were negligible.

He said the applicants had already given an undertaking to the immigration consultants that the entire process was managed by the former.

Another student, Chamandeep Singh of Mattewal village in Amritsar, said he applied for a study visa through Education Migration Services, Jalandhar, headed by Brijesh Mishra. He said he paid nearly Rs 15 lakh, including admission fee, and security deposits for Humber College.

Chamandeep said after completing a three-year degree in mechanical engineering, he applied for the PR in 2022. “The trouble started when the CBSA scrutinised the documents and found admission letters to be fake. The deportation notice (the copy of which is in possession with The Tribune) was sent to me in April 2022. I am fighting a case in the court to prove my innocence,” he said.

Param from Gurdaspur said, “The fraud has come to the fore now. A numbers of students back in India have been blacklisted after the the Canadian authorities found their offer letters to be fake.” He said majority of them had applied through Mishra.

Meanwhile, Mishra has closed his office. The owner of the building where the office was situated said, “Mishra removed all the hoardings from the building. The office is lying closed for the last 10 days.”

Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Chahal said he had so far received no complaint against Mishra.