A large number of Indian students, predominantly from Punjab, have staged a protest in Canada against the imminent threat of deportation over accusations of obtaining “admission on fake offer letters.” The students allege that they have been duped by unscrupulous travel agents in India who orchestrated this fraud.

According to reports, nearly 700 students are under the scanner of the Canadian authorities for enrolling in Canadian universities and colleges with forged documents. The students have been holding a continuous sit-in outside the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) headquarters in Mississauga since May 29. The first student to be deported was Lovepreet Singh from Punjab, who arrived in Mississauga in September 2017 to pursue management at Lambton College. He claimed that his agent asked him to switch to another college after his arrival and later discovered that his immigration papers were tampered with and not reflected in the college’s system.

He said many travel agents exploit students in a similar manner. The students have appealed to the Canadian immigration minister Sean Fraser, who has assured them that he would look into the matter. However, the CBSA maintains that the students entered “under false pretence, fraudulently” and violated the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Meanwhile, Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, seeking his intervention in the matter. The students have expressed their anguish and frustration over the situation and demanded a fair and transparent investigation. They have also urged the Indian government to take action against the travel agents who cheated them.

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