Over 250 organisations, including Amnesty International, have written a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and three other top officials, seeking an independent probe into border agents deeming a dozen Indian students potentially inadmissible after checking the immigration status of 20 of them at a protest in Calgary on August 12.
The presence of border agents at the protest was unprecedented in recent Canadian history. They called for processing work permits for Portage College graduates under the rules that applied when they enrolled. “It will not work. Migrants will keep organising, and keep speaking out.
The signatories demanded clear public policies so that a protest never leads to immigration enforcement, regardless of a person’s status. They said they were called to the protest site due to complaints and that the protesters set up tents or other structures without a permit. About 1,500 students at Calgary’s Portage College began a demonstration and hunger strike on July 24 against the retroactive rejection and cancellation of their post-graduation work permits. The protest ended after the August 12 action. In the letter addressed to Carney, public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, immigration minister Lena Metlege Diab, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the signatories called for immediate suspension of the exclusion orders and any removal action arising from the August 12 enforcement while these events are investigated.
Amnesty International Canada said it was appalled by the CBSA’s crackdown. Migrant rights campaigner Julia Sande said people should not have to choose between speaking out against injustice and protecting their ability to remain in Canada. Calgary Police sought the “status check” on four people at the protest and found that two of them were not in compliance with their immigration status. Bikramjit Singh, of the PGWP Committee, an activist network advocating for international students and migrant workers, said what happened in Calgary was meant to frighten people into silence. We will defend those rights every time they are attacked,” said Singh.
