The Indian students who received deportation notices from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in a fake offer letter case for admission into higher educational institutes have a moment to relieve as the immigration minister of the country, Sean Fraser said that the government is focusing on identifying culprits rather than penalise the victims.
While tweeting on the micro blogging site he said, "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."
"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 also working closely with institutions to verify acceptance letters are valid at the time of application," added the Immigration Minister.
Meanwhile Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) has also called on the government not to deport 150 Indian students who were told to leave the country due to the fake college admission letters, according to the Canadian Border Security Agency.
NDP critic for Citizenship and Immigration, Jenny Kwan said, "Right now, students who came to Canada for their university education are under threat of deportation. I wrote to the minister (Immigration Minister Sean Fraser) on May 25 urgently calling for action to help these students who unknowingly received fraudulent travel documentation from bad actors looking to make money from their deceit.”
Earlier the CBSA had sent deportation notices to the Punjabi students when they started applying for permanent residency in the country.
According to the Canadian Border Service Agency, more than 700 Indian students are reportedly facing deportation after finding that their educational institution’s admission offer letters were fake. Most of these students had come to the country to study in 2018 and 2019.
The fraud was discovered when the students applied for permanent residency in Canada.
Brijesh Mishra, a Jalandhar-based agent, was responsible for providing fake admission letters, charging students thousands of dollars, according to media reports.
The students, who were offered admission letters by Jalandhar-based education agent Brijesh Mishra, have maintained that they had no idea of the letters being fraudulent and paid anywhere between Rs 15-20 lakhs for enrollment in Canada’s top colleges.
