SEAN Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, on Monday in Parliament reiterated that the 700 Indian students, mainly from the state of Punjab, “will have an opportunity to remain in Canada.”

He was reacting to the NDP’s Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Jenny Kwan’s query: “Will the minister do the right thing, the compassionate thing, and grant these international students a pathway to permanent residency?”

Last week, on June 7, Fraser had tweeted: “Innocent victims will be given every opportunity to have their case considered fairly. Due to the complexity of the situation, we remain committed to working with CBSA [Canada Border Services Agency] to determine a fair outcome.”

He added: “We are actively pursuing a solution for [international] students who are facing uncertainty due to having been admitted to Canada with fraudulent college admission letters. Those who have taken advantage of people genuinely hoping to study here will face consequences for their actions.”

Kwan, who has taken up the students’ case in a very forceful way and asked them to contact her office at jenny.kwan@parl.gc.ca, said on Monday in Parliament: “International students who have been defrauded by crooked consultants should not be punished with deportation and inadmissibility based on misrepresentation. They have invested everything they have for a better future. They work hard, they study hard and under very difficult conditions. They are under enormous strain and their lives are in limbo. The Liberals can eliminate this uncertainty by allowing them to stay in Canada and build the lives of their dreams.”

Fraser pointed out: “We have been working very hard, as we discussed in a recent meeting just a little more than a week ago.”

He said: “We are working to develop a process to ensure that those innocent students, who are the victims of fraud, will have an opportunity to remain in Canada.”

He added: “However, to the extent that people committed fraud, or were complicit in a fraudulent scheme, they will bear the consequences of choosing not to follow Canada’s laws. I am hearing stories of students who are dealing with serious mental health concerns. With the uncertainty that they are struggling with, we will put a process in place to allow them to prove they were taken advantage of and provide an appropriate remedy for them.”