Indian Students Demand Things From Canada

Foreign students from India have a tendency to demand things from Canada. No other country does. Recently, they have been staging protests about housing, high university fees and demand to work. I don’t know if they demand them from other countries, but the story that broke in March, suggests they think Canada is an easy-to-dupe country.

That story is about 700 students from India that gave immigration false letters, saying they were accepted in Canadian universities. The government discovered the scheme after six or seven years later when they applied for citizenship. It started the deportation process. They blamed the government for not detecting the fraud all those years, when they were to blame. They knew admission letters were fake. They mounted protests: ‘We are victims.’ Letters came from one immigration consultant  in one particular region in India. Probably, the consultant reassured them that Canada’s immigration was lax and that even if the fraud was discovered, it didn’t matter. Get into Canada first. Deportation of the 700 students is on hold, because of their protest. It has been frozen, not deleted.

Because of that temporary success, students from India are demanding free health care Canadians pay for, through taxes. We are seeing protests complaining about university housing and fees. They knew all this before they boarded the plane. They cannot demand what they don’t have in their country and what Canadian students themselves don’t have. Many Canadian students rent a house or share apartments because they don’t want to live in dorms. They eat and live like students. Canadian universities provide for foreign students only. Therefore Indian students cannot complain about housing if they bring their families. One university provided emergency housing, but they rejected it and said it was sub-standard.

Did you study abroad? There are millions of stories about how foreign/international students struggled in other countries, but it was worth it, learning about university towns and meeting people from all over the world. They did not come to demand, like what Indian students do in Canada.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.