‘Alarming trend’ of more international students claiming asylum: minister

A “growing number” of international students are claiming asylum successful bid to enactment successful Canada aft being allowed successful connected pupil visas, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says, calling it an “alarming trend.”

Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson successful an interrogation that aired Sunday connected The West Block, Miller said those claimants are utilizing the planetary pupil programme arsenic a “backdoor introduction into Canada,” often to little their tuition fees, and that universities and colleges indispensable amended their screening and monitoring practices to weed retired atrocious actors.

He said his section is studying the contented and suggested further reforms to the programme were being explored.

Miller made the comments aft Stephenson asked if Muhammad Shahzeb Khan — a Pakistani antheral arrested successful Quebec this month portion allegedly plotting a violent onslaught against Jews successful New York City — had claimed asylum aft entering Canada connected a pupil visa successful 2023.

Miller said helium could not remark connected Khan’s lawsuit arsenic it’s earlier the courts, but was past asked however galore planetary students successful full person claimed asylum.

“There’s a increasing number, Mercedes, and it’s frankly rather alarming fixed the volumes of radical that travel to this country, successful theory, with the due fiscal capableness to unrecorded and to wage their tuition fees, which are 4 times what Canadians pay,” the curate said.

“We spot that it happens often wrong the archetypal twelvemonth of the clip they’re here… often for little valid reasons than than others, notably to driblet the tuition interest down to Canadian rates. There’s immoderate opportunism that’s being utilized and exploited there.”

Statistics Canada says portion Canadian postgraduate and undergraduate students wage connected mean betwixt $7,300 to $7,600 annually successful tuition fees, planetary postgraduate students paid implicit $23,000 past year. For planetary undergraduate students, the yearly fig is implicit $40,000.

The authorities announced past week it volition further trim the fig of planetary pupil permits Canada issues adjacent twelvemonth by astir 10 per cent, aft capping levels 35 per cent beneath erstwhile intake levels.

The purpose of the national headdress is to trim the fig of impermanent residents successful Canada from 6.5 per cent of the full colonisation to 5 per cent amid a colonisation detonation and strains connected lodging and nationalist services.

Miller has called connected universities and colleges to bash their portion by improving their recruiting and admitting practices, and reiterated those calls in The West Block interview.

“This is simply a programme aimed astatine planetary excellence and not a backdoor introduction into Canada for immoderate reason,” helium said.

“It’s part and parcel of the reforms that I’ve been doing implicit the amended portion of the twelvemonth to marque definite that we person a amended planetary pupil visa system, including detecting fraud astatine the outset — which is immensely captious — but besides looking astatine … the interaction and the semipermanent symptom that’s created, including the load of making mendacious oregon less-credible asylum claims.”

Universities person said planetary pupil enrolment is down 45 per cent this twelvemonth — “far greater” than what Ottawa’s caps aimed for.

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Canada’s information screening systems are nether scrutiny aft the apprehension of Khan and a begetter and lad from Egypt, Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, charged successful July with allegedly plotting an ISIS onslaught successful Toronto.

During an quality astatine the House of Commons nationalist information and nationalist information committee Thursday, Miller said the authorities is “confident in… the screening that operates successful our country.”

Speaking to Stephenson, Miller again said helium is assured but acknowledged much needs to beryllium done.

“Am I wholly satisfied of wherever we are today? No, I don’t deliberation anyone successful my presumption would unreal that, nor would the nationalist information minister,” helium said.

“We request to person a information apparatus that is perpetually evolving, but we are overmuch amended disconnected contiguous than we were adjacent years a fewer years agone earlier we were utilizing biometrics, for example. And I deliberation that’s thing that Canadians tin instrumentality immoderate comfortableness in.”

Miller said he’s ordered his lawman curate to bash an interior reappraisal of what happened successful caller incidents, including the entries of Khan and the Eldidis, and nutrient a study wrong the adjacent 30 days that volition place “deficiencies that we request to fix” and if the contented is “systemic.”

The curate would not remark connected circumstantial allegations to however the alleged panic suspects were capable to debar detection oregon rise reddish flags with borderline officials.

But helium added borderline information “is not a uniquely Canadian challenge” and that the authorities indispensable enactment with the U.S. and Mexico to germinate its information parameters, noting Mostafa Eldidi entered Canada by onshore from the U.S.

“I tin ne'er beryllium satisfied,” helium said. “We person to perpetually marque definite that we’re moving to thwart these threats to Canada, due to the fact that determination are radical that don’t person the champion intentions of Canada astatine bosom that are trying to get into the country.”