Sumit Sen is a Barrister and Solicitor, and a Canadian Immigration Lawyer. He is a speaker, author, visiting professor and advisor-at-large on legal matters. As a Rhodes Scholar, he wrote his PhD thesis “International Refugee Law in South Asia” at the London School of Economics. He has read for a Masters of Laws (LLM) at the University of London, an MPhil in International Law and MA at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a BA and LLB in India.

Sen worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and worldwide. A legal advisor to the UN and other international organizations in the area of human rights, refugee law and displacement, Sen spoke over phone to Ranjeet Jamwal on the deportation faced by the Indian students in Canada. Some excerpts :

Q: The government of Canada has decided to postpone the deportation of 700 Indian students after facing huge protests. The reason?

A: This is I think because of the policy of the government of Canada. They are trying to see what has happened in the first place. This is perhaps the reason for this stay. It’s stay of removal but the removal has not been quashed. It’s still there but the students will not be removed as of now. There are lots of things which need to be looked at. The students are obviously victims of fraud. They had no idea what was happening. It’s the agents in India who have done it. And basically what has happened is that students had no idea of this fraud and the government of Canada also failed in its own duty of checking the documentation.

These people have got the visa for coming to Canada. Their documents were first checked by the High Commission of Canada in India, then after coming here they got the student permit and have done their studies. After completing the studies, they also took the work permit. So their permits have been scrutinised three to four times after coming to Canada. So what was the government of Canada doing ? There has been a flaw. There is a problem in the verification process. Now efforts are being made to fix this.

Q: How were the visas granted on the basis of a fake admission letter?

A: There are 7.50 lakh students who apply to come to Canada annually. Ouf of this, four lakh students get the visa for study in Canada. So one can imagine how big a process it is. How will the government of Canada go to each college to verify if the admission certificates are genuine or not? On top of it, there can be several other things that can be fake. The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) scores can be fake. Even the financial documentation can be a fraud. There is a limit to how much the government can check. They take the documents at face value and deep scrutiny is done only when they suspect some fraud.

Q: Indian students reached Canada with fake admission letters of Canadian educational institutions. But still got admission in ‘other’ educational institutions on the same visa?

A: The study visa is not for a particular college. The concerned college had no idea what was going on. Brijesh Mishra (the Jalandhar-based education consultant at the centre of the racket for issuing fake admission letters of Canadian educational institutions to students who are now facing deportation) gave students fraudulent letters. When students came here in Canada, Mishra called and told them this college (for which he had given an admission letter) is now full and to get an admission at another college. So they believed him.

Q: Why were the students not sent to the same college in the first place?

A: Because the students don’t get work permits in such colleges he (Mishra) sent the students later. I have the information and I will call those colleges to court. What the agent has done is kabbortarbazi or human trafficking. So he and his associates should be found and arrested. They have caused so many problems for these students. They weep in my office. Canada is okay with the studies done by the students, the work permits. They are all okay. But the document with which they got entry into Canada, is wrong. Misrepresentation has taken place and that’s why the Canadian government is after them. But we have appealed against it and are fighting against it. But it’s something called innocent misrepresentation. Yes the mistake has been made but it was not done intentionally. It’s in the law here that a person is not removed for innocent misrepresentation. I have fought such cases.

Q: What is the implication of this on the students who are planning to go to Canada? Will they be facing more scrutiny?

A: Well, I don’t know how the scrutiny will be done because there is no system for this. Across the world there is no system to verify 7.5 lakh admission letters. This is where we will come in the picture and tell the students to get the verification done. If a student’s IELTS score are fake, then the students are responsible. But if you passed the IELTS, have paid the finances for the admission, now the admission letter is the only thing that’s coming through an agent, How do you know the agent is not doing what Mishra was doing? So we came up with the Canada Education Verification Service to help students with this verification so that they will have no problem.