CHANDIGARH: “We deserve a fair chance… Stop targeting international students and immigrations… Do not change the rule in the end of the game’’ read the plank cards held by Punjabi students in Canada.They fear deportation and are protesting against the federal government’s decision to impose a cap on immigration workers and demanding to extend their Post-Graduate Work Permits (PGWPs) and fair pathways. They are protesting in Brampton and will be holding a rally there on October 13. Immigration consultants are of the view that most students from Punjab have no technical skills. The changes in the immigration system in the past months have left immigrants, particularly international students, in distress. Many Punjabi singers including Rupinder Handa and Guru Randhawa recently visited the protest site and announced their support to the protesters. These students have been holding a permanent protest at Queen Street in Brampton since August. Talking with this newspaper, over the phone from Canada, Bikram Kullewali an active member of Naujawan Support Network says, “The protests have been going on for the last couple of months, and are spearheaded by the PGWPs committee and NSN. We are just handful of students who are protesting for everybody as we want fair PR pathways and post-graduate work permits (PGWPs), due to COVID-19 there is a big backlog in all immigration schemes besides the majority of the candidates are unable to meet the Canadian Experience Class. The work permits of many have expired and many others will expire by December 31 this year. Many have applied for refugee status, while many others have moved to US and many have applied for a work permit extension.’’ “On October 13 rally, we will make announcements and protests in front of offices of Members of Parliament will be held,’’ he added.Student leaders claimed that the move to not give extensions to those with PGWPs was likely to affect around 1.3 lakh international students. The new policy of the Canadian Government which limits the number of international students eligible for post-graduation work permits (PGWPs) has sparked outrage, particularly among the Punjabi student community as these students apprehend a bleak future, as most of them who intended to apply for permanent residency after completing their studies now are in a catch-22 situation. A leading immigration consultant Shamsher Singh Sandhu says,“Most of the students who have gone to Canada in the recent past cannot get a post-graduate work permits (PGWPs) as Canadian authorities have put a new condition that if one want a PGWP then, one has to clear the ILETs and PGWP cannot be extended for the second time. The students who have gone to Canada after completing their Class XII and earning diploma there can beat the Canadian Experience Class (CRS) Score as the students who have done their PhD or master’s have more chances to clear the draw of lots.’’ “As most of the students from Punjab have no technical skills adding to their disadvantage, we do not think that the Canadian authorities will come under pressure of these protesters,’’ says Sandhu. A decade ago when the study visa program picked up pace in Canada there were only 214,000 international students and now in 2022 there are over 800,000 international students.With Canadian federal elections due next year the immigration policy is now key factor in the country.
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