Washington: The US has promised to protect
the interests of hundreds of Indian students at the University of
Northern Virginia (UNVA), which was raided yesterday by investigating
and law enforcement agencies on charges of visa fraud. In a day-long
exercise, dozens of officials from different federal agencies, including
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), entered the Annandale campus of the university and
took away with them a large number of boxes full of documents and
computer hard drives from its administrative division.
"Today,
officials from ICE's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP)
served UNVA with a notice of intent to withdraw (NOIW) UNVA's
authorisation to admit foreign students," ICE spokeswoman Cori W Bassett
in a statement.
Based in Annandale, Virginia, a suburb of
Washington, the university is reported to have 2,400 students of which
90 per cent are from India. Of these, an overwhelming majority are said
to be from Andhra Pradesh. The university declined to make any comment;
it did not communicate with its students and staff either, except for a
notice posted at the entrance that said the university was still open,
but students had the choice to move to other varsities or look for other
options, if they so wanted. Sources said the UNVA was authorised to
issue I-20 form to about 50 students, but had issued and enrolled a much
larger number.
Based on the experience of the Tri-Valley case,
and given that India had strongly objected to the manner in which its
students were treated, US authorities have informed their Indian
counterparts that they would handle this case and follow-up action in a
different manner.
In New Delhi, the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, "We have impressed upon the US
authorities the need to ensure that the students are not victimized in
any manner, since they all have valid documents. We have been told that
the focus of investigations is not on the students but on UNVA itself.
The Ministry and our Mission in Washington are closely following the
developments and are in the process of obtaining all details in the
matter."
MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash, added, "It is further
understood that there will not be a mass termination of UNVA students
SEVIS records. The US authorities are taking steps to provide necessary
information to help the students transfer to other educational
institutions in the US or go back to their home countries."
ICE
has issued a notice that said, "UNVA students must immediately depart
the country if they are unable to continue to attend classes and
maintain their active status in a manner required by the regulation or
if they are unable or do not wish to seek transfer to another
SEVP-certified institution."
US immigration Officials also made
it clear that there would be no arrests, detention or electronic
monitoring of students. They also said that the university would not be
immediately shut down; it had been given a months' notice to explain.
The students have three options: continue at the University while it
functions, seek transfer to another university or seek voluntary return
to India.
There was some cheer for the students - their visa
status would not be terminated. It would remain valid for the present
duration during which time they would have the opportunity to seek
transfers.
But concerns remain in Andhra Pradesh. Telugu Desam
Party chief Chandrababu Naidu expressed concern over the predicament
faced by students from the state and said, ''It is unfortunate that from
Andhra so many students are going abroad all over the world for higher
education. But unfortunately the government is not protecting their
interest."