Chandigarh: Bathinda MP and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday urged Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to save the future of hundreds of Punjabis, who were duped by fake travel agents, and now on the verge of being deported from Canada.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal wrote a letter to the External Affairs Minister in this regard and said more emphasis should be laid on action against the fake institutions and their authorised agents who played with the future of the students.
She said that the cases of the victims of this scam should be considered sympathetically and they have fulfilled the eligibility conditions required for permanent citizenship by obtaining their skilled achievement degrees and they should get permanent citizenship in Canada without any hindrance.
In a tweet, she wrote, “Urged EAM @DrSJaishankar to save future of 100’s of Punjabi students facing deportation after being duped by an unscrupulous education services agent by taking up their case with the #Canadian authorities. Emphasis should be on taking strict action against dubious institutions as well as authorized agents who had played with the future of the students. Unsuspecting students, who were victims to this scam, should be treated sympathetically, as they had fulfilled all needed criteria for securing Permanent Residency after up-skilling themselves and should be granted the same without any hindrance.”
The former Union minister said that while earlier 700 students were facing action on the same ground, it has now come to light that 200 more students have been issued deportation notices by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) as they were also duped by pseudo travel agent from Jalandhar.
She said that the students were duped and agent had issued fake offer letters, therefore, Indian government must intervene and stop deportation of students from Canada.
Badal said the students had acquired skill training by taking admission in alternative institutions but when they applied for permanent citizenship, they were ordered to be sent back as their original admission documents were found to be forged.
She asserted that the scam had been going on for a long time and Indian education agent alone could not do so without the help of Canadian institutions or their agents. Action should be taken against all such culprits, including erring Canadian colleges that had issued letters to students for admissions far beyond their capacity, she said.