For Indian students, it was a rude shock when they received deportation notices from the authorities after they were found to have been granted visas on the basis of fake offer letters
The stay on their deportation from Canada has provided temporary relief to Indian students who had completed their degree courses and secured work permits but were subsequently found to have allegedly been granted visas on the basis of fake admission offer letters. This leads to a question on the role of the Canadian embassy officials who issued visas without verifying the authenticity of the letters.
However, there are more questions as to why this brain drain is happening when jobs and other opportunities are shrinking overseas. A recent viral video originating from Kitchener, located 100 kms west of Toronto, showed long lines of Indian international students and graduates at a part-time job fair. Though this one instance has exploded on social media and garnered millions of views, it is by no means the only one: similar reports are emerging from throughout Canada.
For Indian students, it was a rude shock when they received deportation notices from the Canadian Border Security Agency. The deportations have temporarily been stalled after the Indian government took up the matter with the Canadian authorities. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has emphasised the need for fair treatment of the aggrieved students, while Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre has demanded that the fraudsters be prosecuted and ‘honest students’ be allowed to ‘stay, work and contribute to Canada.’
The fact remains students are making a significant contribution of revenue to Canada and its economy. It’s not easy for parents to send their children abroad for studies. Some of them even have to mortgage their immovable property and dip heavily into their life savings. No wonder, hundreds of students facing deportation due to forged offer letters had hit the streets in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Canada.
International students coming to Canada not only bear the burden of high tuition fees – over five times what local Canadian students pay – but also have to invest a minimum of $10,000 in a mandatory Guaranteed Investment Certificate.
Students say, “Landlords are arbitrarily raising rents, even threatening eviction if we fail to pay increased amounts. Beds are renting for 800 dollars a pop in overcrowded accommodations. Some students have been forced to rely on food banks”. Canada is projected to welcome 753,000 international students this year, an increase from 550,000 last year. These students contribute about 25 billion dollars annually to the economy. Brampton, Ontario, and Surrey, British Columbia, are typically the cities associated with the Indian diaspora in Canada. They have permeated the Punjabi consciousness so thoroughly – through movies, songs and literature – that they are considered extensions of Punjab as well as integral parts of Canada.
