International students end Canadian airport protest over admissions scam, fears linger – National | 24CA News
International college students who had been protesting close to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport since May 28 have ended their protest after Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser stated deportation orders linked to a faux admissions letter rip-off will likely be placed on pause.
But they are saying they proceed to have questions and considerations that the “government is placing the burden on students to prove that they were not complicit in fraud.”
On Wednesday, Fraser introduced a joint process drive, made up of senior immigration and border safety officers, will probe particular person circumstances of worldwide college students who fell sufferer to a fraudulent acceptance letters rip-off.
Advocates for the scholars instructed Thursday that they fear the method “presumes students are guilty unless they prove otherwise, which is the opposite of how the legal system normally works.”
The college students should not being charged or accused of crimes.
Under Canadian immigration guidelines, “the burden of proof that all requirements are met rests with the applicant. The applicant is required to provide sufficient evidence to satisfy the decision maker that the requirements for the application have been met.”
According to the protesting college students, these going through deportation orders got here to Canada in 2017 and 2018 on pupil permits after they had been issued “fake college admission letters drafted by their immigration consultants, namely a Jalandhar-based consultant named Brijesh Mishra.”
“After landing in Canada, the consultants told students that they could not enroll in that particular college for various reasons, such as deferral or unavailability of seats. The students were told to change colleges, which they did in order to begin their studies,” the protesting college students stated in a press launch final week.
“Over the last five to six years, most of the students have completed their studies, entered the workforce, started families and have applied for permanent residency (PR). They were unaware of the fake offer letters until they began applying for PR.”
Any pending removing orders towards college students will likely be halted whereas particular person circumstances are examined.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament Hill forward of query interval on Wednesday, Fraser stated the officers from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will likely be “likely at the ADM (assistant deputy minister) level.”
Members of each businesses could have their work lower out for them, with experiences of probably a whole bunch of worldwide college students impacted and needing their circumstances reviewed.
Fraser stated CBSA will determine the people who’ve removing orders towards them for coming into Canada on faux admission letters, stated to have been fraudulently equipped with out their information by an immigration guide in India.
IRCC members will dig into their information to find out whether or not they’re victims or accomplices within the rip-off.
“This task force will be required to carry out a case-by-case analysis of every individual case that is the subject of a removal order on the basis of fraudulent letters of acceptance,” Fraser stated.
“In the interim, and this is particularly important for students who find themselves in this position, any pending removals will be halted and there will be a temporary permission to stay over the course of this period of consideration.”
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