Indian Students Facing Deportation from Canada: Punjab minister seeks Centre's intervention

CHANDIGARH: Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal Tuesday sought intervention of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar in the matter of 700 Indian students facing deportation from Canada. In a letter to Jaishankar, Dhaliwal also sought time to meet him over the issue. As many as 700 Indian students, mostly from Punjab, are facing deportation from Canada after the authorities in that country found “admission offer letters” to educational institutions to be fake.

The matter came to light in March when these students applied for permanent residency in Canada. "I have also sought time to meet EAM so that the whole matter can be brought to the attention of the GOI personally," Dhaliwal said. In the letter to the EAM, Dhaliwal said, “These (700) students are innocent and have been cheated by the clique of fraudsters…” “I shall be highly grateful if you again look into the matter personally and take up the matter with concerned agencies including High Commission of Canada and government of Canada so that these students can be saved from being deported,” wrote Dhaliwal.

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These students should not be deported and given work permits considering their visas, he said. Dhaliwal also appealed to the people of Punjab that before going abroad or sending their children for studies, the details of the college and the record of the travel agent must be checked.