International Students Organize Successful 18-Day Protest
International students secured a significant win as a result of their 18-day morcha – 24-hour permanent protest – outside the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) headquarters in Mississauga when all their deportations were temporarily postponed on June 14.
The students' determined action gained the support of hundreds of community members, community and migrant rights organizations as well as local Gurdwaras, artists, public figures and small businesses. The morcha began May 28 and continued with a community gathering held each night with food, speeches, and performances.
More than 100 international students are facing possible deportation and at least eight have already been deported. Most of these students have spent more than half a decade in this country; they have completed their studies, and work and live here. The students have been "deemed inadmissible" or are facing inadmissibility hearings and several dozen are facing deportation due to fraudulent college admission letters provided to immigration on their behalf by recruiters when they first arrived in Canada. It is only recently that the government has started proceedings against them.
On
June 14, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced that a task force
of Immigration and CBSA officials will issue Temporary Resident Permits
to those students who studied in colleges and can prove that they were
not involved in fraud. These students will not face deportation or a
five-year
ban from re-entering Canada (i.e., inadmissibility). The eight students
who were unfairly deported will have an opportunity to make their case
and to return to Canada. Deportations have been halted until the
investigation is completed. While the announcement provides temporary
relief to all
students, the details have yet to be released in writing.
A large number of questions the students posed to the government during their protest remain unanswered: Will the Canadian government take responsibility for failing to identify the fraudulent documents at the time of entry? What compensation do students receive who lost sleep, jobs, and thousands of dollars in legal fees due to the government's mistakes? What will be done to hold public and private colleges responsible for their complicity in widespread fraud, not just in this case but in others before it? What will the government do to ensure that students who have studied, worked hard, and built lives here have access to permanent residency?
Organizers of the morcha point out that a number of concerns remain and what the government is actually promising is far from clear. Once the investigation is completed the government may proceed with deportations of some students.
The morcha organizers have stated that if this happens the students and community will restart the morcha and maintain it until the deportations are permanently cancelled. They state, "Our eyes and ears remain open, our hearts remain committed to justice, and we remain prepared to take back 6900 Airport Road if necessary. We will not let our brothers and sisters be deported."
(Photos: Naujawan Support Network, Decent Work and Health, A. Kaur)
This article was published in
Number 32 - June
26, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10324.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca