Mumbai: After Karamjeet Kaur, a disabled Indian woman, got a stay on her removal from Canada in an investigation against former students who came to the country on fraudulent offers, another individual is now in the dock for the same. Lovepreet Mahal, from Toronto, is now protesting along with his peers for justice to convince Canadian authorities that they are not at fault and deserve another chance.
Days after Karamjeet Kaur, a physically challenged Indian woman got a stay order on her deportation, another former student received a removal letter from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Lovepreet Mahal, who hails from Punjab, has received an air ticket for India dated June 13 making him second from the list of thousands of Indians who are set to face hearings for entering Canada on a fake offer letter between 2017-2020.
“We need some more time to convince Canadian authorities. It’s unfair what’s happening to us,” said Lovepreet Mahal. Mahal is protesting on the streets of Ontario with his peers, who are in a similar soup though they haven’t received their removal letters yet.
Why are hundreds of former Indian students facing deportation threat?
Canada, which has Indian students as its biggest international cohort, has tasked its authorities to investigate many of them who entered the country between 2017-2020 for studies on fake enrollment offers.
According to the students, they were cheated by a Jalandhar-based education agent, Brijesh Mishra, who charged between Rs 15-20 lakhs from them individually.
Despite agent's Canada college promise, prominent institutions deny role
Though Mishra allegedly told the former students that they have been admitted to renowned Canadian colleges such as Seneca, Humber, etc, after landing in the country they were informed that their admissions haven’t been confirmed leading them to take admissions to lesser-known, tier-2 institutions.
In an interview with The Free Press Journal, Sylvie Lenday, a Media Relations Specialist at Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Media, stated that they have no knowledge about the incident and were unaware of Mishra.
“Humber became aware of media coverage about Canada deporting 700 Indian citizens, whose admission letters and visa documents were found to be fake. Humber has no knowledge, nor have we worked with the agency and agent mentioned in the media articles,” Lendvay told the FPJ in March 2023.
As per reports, Mishra is now on the run from Punjab police with his associates from Education Migration Services already being arrested for forgery and cheating.
A Gurudwara in Canada showing solidarity to students |
Canada's assurance for students, '...not penalising victims'
Meanwhile, Canadian Minister for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Sean Fraser addressed the fake offer letter case publicly for the first time.
In a tweet posted on May 26, Fraser remarked that Canada is actively investigating ‘recent reports of fraudulent acceptance letters.’
“We’re actively investigating recent reports of fraudulent acceptance letters. To be clear: Our focus is on identifying culprits, not penalising victims. Victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation and present evidence to support their case,” said Fraser, who added that Canada remains committed to supporting victims of fraud while also working closely with institutions.
