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Punjab to give legal help to 700 students facing deportation in Canada: Dhaliwal
Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal earlier this week asked the central government to extend help to Indian students who were victims of an immigration fraud
CHANDIGARH: Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Thursday said that the state government will provide free legal assistance to 700 students facing deportation in Canada.
Most of these students belong to Punjab and they will be assisted by lawyers who are experts in immigration laws in Canada, he said.
Dhaliwal said he has also written to all MPs of Punjab origin in Canada to step in so that the future of these children can be secured.
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Chairing a high-level meeting with civil and police officers associated with NRI department in Chandigarh, Dhaliwal also instructed all deputy commissioners and senior superintendent of police (SSPs) to scrutinize documents of travel agents and immigration agenies and send a report by July 10. He expressed concern that many travel agents are running immigration agencies illegally.
Dhaliwal said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already given clear instructions to improve the system. “If the system is transparent and clean, then there will be less scope for human trafficking by illegal travel/immigration agencies,” he said, announcing a special campaign against unscrupulous travel agents and immigration agencies in Punjab.
Dhaliwal also asked people to report cases from the last 10 years where an immigrant Punjabi has been deliberately implicated in a wrong case.
Such cases will be investigated and justice will be given to the victim, the minister added.
Dhaliwal has already sought the intervention of the Centre to resolve the matter of 700 Indian students who are trapped in immigration fraud in Canada and facing deportation.
