Sept 23 2002 NATIONAL NEWS

International students
asked to leave SFU:

Post-9/11 rules catch students by surprise

Over The Edge Page 4

By Mohamad El Masri, The
Peak

VANCOUVER (CUP) —
Over 100 international stu-
dents at Simon Fraser
University will be told to drop
out of their courses and leave
school.

Students holding study per-
mits are facing strict regula-
tions caused by changes to
federal immigration regula-
tions that came into effect this
past June to which universities
across Canada are being
forced to adhere.

Before the new regulations,
students who were out of sta-
tus could be reinstated.
Effective June 28, stu-
dents must ensure that
they satisfy and meet
all the criteria on their
study permits.
Conditions placed on
the permits outline
where and how long a
student can study, in
accordance with the
federal government's
policies.

The main problem,
according to interna-
tional student advisor
Chris Breedyk, is that
students are taking the
criteria for granted and

paying attention only to) sey international Office, home to
when their study period | may no longer be able to finish their degrees.

ends.
“Students are not looking at
whether the permit allows
them to switch institutions or
place of residence,” said
Breedyk. “They come here and
study, and their friends tell
them that it’s all right to
change schools whenever
they want and that they don’t
have to do any paperwork.”
The ramifications of this, she
says, are that students must
now be reinstated and
restored to status before they
can continue studies. If stu-
dents are still within the 90-day
period since infraction of the
conditions on their permits,
they can be restored with a
$200 penalty payment. The
problems start when students
delay going to Immigration
Canada to update their per-
mits and go beyond the sanc-
tioned 90-day buffer period to

restore themselves, in which
case they are asked to drop
their classes.

“Many students have been
at SFU now for two or three
semesters on a college per-
mit,” said Breedyk. “[That]
means they either have to
reapply for a new permit which
allows them to be at a univer-
sity or leave school.”

While the effects of the new
regulations are hitting students
across the board, Simon
Fraser Student Society
Executive Member Clement
Apaak, who is also the
Canadian Federation of

Students international student

commissioner, says students
most affected by the new poli-
cies will be those who trans-
ferred to SFU from local col-
leges.

“For some reason a lot of
students who transferred from
colleges took for granted the
fact that they had to go to
Immigration to change their
study permit from college to
university,’ Apaak says. “Some
of these people have been in
university for close to three to
four years, and some are even
about to graduate. They are
being asked to abandon their
studies.”

Breedyk emphasizes that
the new regulations are not
directly related to attempts by
the university to implement the
Canadian government's new
security measures, especially
when it comes to students

are “ dhote
students who

entering Canada exclusively
for study purposes.

Apaak believes, however,
that there is a direct connec-
tion between stricter regula-
tions on international students
and attempts to implement
new immigration security laws
and conditions highlighted in
new anti-terrorism and immi-
gration legislation. Apaak sees
obvious connections between
what's happening to interna-
tional students now and the
events that occurred on Sept.
11.

“It was reported that some of
the hijackers [of the planes]
were living in the United
States on expired stu-
dent visas,” — said
Apaak. “That is being
translated in the pre-
sent regulations on
how North American
countries should moni-
tor the movements of
international students. |
see the new regula-

tions, where
Immigration Canada is
becoming more

junfriendly to interna-
| tional students, to be a
direct consequence of
# what happened in the
= U.S.

Breedyk indicates
that the consequences
of the new regulations
are simply administrative and
will require greater thorough-
ness on the part of students in
updating their permits.

“These new regulations do
not target any specific group of
people and have little to do
with Canada’s new security
measures,” she said. “The
Canadian government is sim-
ply asking students to pay
attention to their permits and
the conditions that allow them
or don’t allow them to do cer-
tain things during their study
periods. Many students gain
study permits and then just
disappear without a trace and
we are trying to avoid that.”

Students affected by the
policies could not be reached
for comment.

(continued on page 7)

OVER THE

EDGE WANTS
Your STUFF.
WE'LL RUN IT.’
bce NO MORE OF THIS!

remember that shirt you passed
on to your little brother?

and that bike you passed
on to your little sister?

Recycle life...

register —
to be an
organ donor

British Columbia
Transplant Society

register electronically by visiting
www.transplant.bc.ca
604-877-2240

Chris Drumm
Sales Consultant

Honda North

Sales: (250) 562-9391

Parts & Service: (250) 562-4744
Fax: (250) 562-5151

Email: info@hondanorth.ca

105 Brunswick Street

Prince George, B.C.
V2L 2B2