Anxiety as 70,000 international students risk deportation from Canada
International students, including Nigerians, embarked on protests in Canadian major cities as over 70,000 nationals faced deportation over recent policies.
According to CityNews Toronto, the foreign students protested over the fear that more than 70,000 of them might be deported immediately after their work permits expired at the end of 2024.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the figure was revealed by representatives of a student advocacy group, Naujawan Support Network, as demonstrations began in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia on Monday.
This was as the administration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasised on Tuesday that fewer temporary foreign workers would be permitted in Canada under tightened rules.
This administrative policy was announced by the Canadian government in January which would reduce the number of new foreign student permits by 35% from the 2023 number effective September 1, 2024.
Also, the Canadian government affirmed, in May, that international students would only be able to work off-campus for a maximum of 24 hours per week from the start of September.
In response to these immigration reforms, international students established encampments for protests outside the legislative assembly in Prince Edward Island on Tuesday.
The students are facing a critical challenge as new provincial policies for a 25 per cent cut in permanent residency nominations have left many vulnerable to deportation.
Furthermore, aside from the protests against federal policy reforms, hundreds of foreign students and immigrant workers also held rallies in the past few months throughout Brampton, to fight against a narrative that blamed them for local housing and job crises.
