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Canada govt focus not to penalise victims in fake offer letter case, says minister
The minister's remarks referred to the case of agents in India using fraudulent documentation to procure study permits international students for Canada.
Canada’s immigration minister has said the government’s focus is on identifying culprits rather than penalising victims, while referring to case of agents in India using fraudulent documentation to procure study permits for many international students who came to Canada between 2017 and 2021 and now face deportation.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, tweeted, “We recognize the immense contributions international students bring to our country & remain committed to supporting victims of fraud as we evaluate each case.”
“We’re actively investigating recent reports of fraudulent acceptance letters. To be clear: Our focus is on identifying culprits, not penalizing victims. Victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation & present evidence to support their case,” he added.
However, those impacted by the fake documentation say there is little evidence the victims are not being penalised. Among them is Lovepreet Singh, who is originally from Mohali in Punjab, and has received a removal order from the Canadian Border Services Agency or CBSA to leave Canada on June 13.
“There is no change in our situation,” he said. He added these students were victimised several times, from the agents in India to the institutions in Canada that used them to boost earnings to businesses that only wanted them for cheap labour. Singh studied at the Lambton College in the town of Mississauga in the Greater Toronto Area and said he was represented by the agent Atul Mahajan of the immigration firm Orange Overseas.
Another student Karamjeet Kaur, originally from Faridkot, is facing deportation this coming Monday. There are at least 30 other such students facing removal proceeedings, though all cases haven’t escalated to the final order being passed, as yet. Another 130 or so cases are being investigated.
These students arrived in Canada between 2017 and 2019, and in rare instances, in 2020. They started receiving notices from the CBSA in 2021 and last year, for a hearing as the agency concluded the letter of offer of admission to a Canadian higher education institution, which formed the basis of their study permits, was “fake.”
The majority of the affected students were represented by the agent Brijesh Mishra of the Jalandhar-based counselling firm EMSA Education and Migration Services Australia.
The ex-students said they were being victimized for no fault of theirs. In an open letter under the banner of Victim Students released in March, they said, “We are desperate for justice; we are victims of fraud; we have no criminal level but facing a removal order.”
“No one can understand our anguish when we learned for the first time through CBSA that the offer was fake and we have been dying and struggling ever since,” it added.
Fraser also tweeted, “We’re also working closely with institutions to verify acceptance letters are valid at the time of application.”
