Student Destination, Canada

Sometimes the law really is an ass. And at those times it behooves reasonably sane people in authority to take a second look at the application of particular laws that may make sense in the aggregate, but when applied in a singular manner do no one any good. In this particular instance of two foreign students studying in Canada who happened unfortunately to have taken decisions that brought them on the other side of the licit doing no harm but finding themselves in a desperate situation, the decision by the Canada Border Services Agency should be reversed.

Two young women, Favour Amadi and Victoria Ordu, both studying at the University of Regina, have been ordered deported from Canada. Since June 19, 2012, the two young women have sought sanctuary in local churches, unwilling to leave their studies at the university until such time as they have been completed, to enable them to return home to Nigeria with the degrees in hand that brought them to Canada to begin with.

Victoria Ordu, left, and Ihuoma Amadi at an undisclosed location in Regina.  Photograph by: TROY FLEECE , REGINA LEADER-POST FILES

Their problem was that although they had applied for and received work permits to enable them to be authorized to work on campus, they were not in possession of permits that would enable them legally to take work off campus. They had worked for a two-week period at a local Walmart store. Canada Border Services Agency does have a certain amount of discretion on how they may settle such problems. They chose the dire option of deportation.

The girls' indiscretion can in all likelihood be understood on many grounds other than for the malign intent of deliberately flouting Canadian law. Quite obviously they had no full appreciation of what this minor infraction might cost them in lost academic earnings, frustration, fear and shame, when they sought to advance their economic condition by seeking employment off campus. It is entirely likely that useful employment on campus was not available to them.

Currently observed legislation relating to foreign students studying in Canada makes it a complex ritual to obtain work permits giving authorization for off-campus job searches. Yet, perhaps in recognition of just how difficult the legislation is to young people studying in a foreign country whose customs and laws are unfamiliar to them, trying to navigate their way around academic institutional realities and the need to work to aid their finances, a change is being contemplated.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has proposed alterations to the International Student Program. A change is forthcoming that would permit eligible students to obtain a single work permit that reflects dual privileges; both on- and off-campus employment. The change is not yet in effect, but will be introduced late this year. The unemployment rate in Saskatchewan is low, at 3.3%, obviating the charge that foreign students might take work away from native-born students.

The two students have been seeking haven from impending deportation for over a year. The president of the University of Regina has asked for a compassionate resolution on their behalf. Students, faculty, community members, federal politicians and organizations have all weighed in on the issue, calling for support and an end to the students' plight. The call is universal; to drop the charges and the intention to deport and allow the two young women the additional year it will take to complete their degrees.

The new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, happens to have had some experience in matters similar in nature. He once represented Canada's interests in Afghanistan at Canada's diplomatic mission in a country where women's rights have traditionally gone unrecognized. Under the Islamist fundamentalist Taliban, education for girls and women was forbidden and strictly enforced.

Chris Alexander is in a position of influence now as Citizenship and Immigration Minister to aid two young women who are guests of Canada's academic community, to complete their education here. An arcane set of laws that functioned to confuse rather than enlighten, impede, rather than further access to advancing education, is about to change for the better.

That change should be back-dated, and the plight of Favour Amadi and Victoria Ordu lifted.

They must be invited back to the university to complete their education. What occurred with these two young women is a blight in Canada's reputation as a compassionate, reliable defender of the advancement of female education internationally.