By Sunder Singh
TORONTO: An article appeared in Canadian Bazaar magazine in the winter issue of 2021-22, alerting the public of the increasing exploitation of girls across the GTA, especially international students residing in Brampton.
Exploiters learnt but did not pay heed to the warnings. Many were arrested, but not enough to stop the crimes.
Because of that article, media organizations appraoched us at Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women, otherwise known as ehcw, asking what was actually happening to the youth newcomers from Punjab.
For its part, ehcw had been alerting the public about the Punjabi girls being targeted in human trafficking. Community patriarchs became extremely uncomfortable. But they did not think that the problem was serious and questioned why would someone bring this issue to the limelight. In some homes there was disbelief and in others, a denial.
So the problem continued to persist till political leaders now took notice.
Police had been aware of this issue right from the beginning when about a decade ago students began to arrive in Canada alone, with no family, no relatives, no friends.
The culture shock was felt as soon as the international students landed at Canadian airports. Rent was high, jobs were scarce and working hours were limited. These challenges made life miserable for new students in Canada. The exploiters were watching.
The exploitation of these new students started right from the educational institutions. Many students came to us at Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women to report that one college was demanding additional $600 from them within a month of their school start-up. The college told these students that extra money was being charged because the college insurance had gone up, or the college was building a new floor or building a new cafeteria.
These students were told to leave the country if they could not pay additional funds, with no promise of refund of the initial fees, for which the families had given up lands, jewelry and investments to give a new life to their children and eventually to themselves.
This exploitation was stopped when ehcw reported the matter to the authorities.
The humongous high cost of education slapped on the students and then demanding more dollars from them, one would wonder where the young girls and boys would end up.
With limited hours to work, pay high rents and save fees for the next semester, the vultures in the community woke up to take advantage of the young, with females targeted the most and thrown into human trafficking. Young boys were trained to steal cars and deal drugs for quick money to pay fees and rent.
Exploitation of international students did not stop there. Private colleges stopped helping the students in placements to earn their credit hours to complete their courses.
Realizing the desperation of the international students, ehcw in 2022 started taking students under its wing, helping 80 students. The immediate needs of these students such as food, clothing and other necessities were taken care. Then, ehcw started counseling them on challenges and risks facing young girls and boys in their own communities.
One day an international girl student, Kaur, came to my office with tears. She had arrived in September 2023 and landed a job in October with a pizza joint. Her shifts started during the day, changed to evening and then to night shift. She requested her supervisor to change the night shift as she was not feeling safe.
The supervisor simply shook his head, telling her that the shifts were controlled by the employer. The employer would come at night when Kaur was alone doing the night shift. He told Kaur why she was damaging her delicate hands by working at a pizza joint. He promised her $400 to $600 a day if she could work from one of his five homes and live there. She could choose which house she wanted to live in. He assured her that he was well-off. But he did not tell Kaur that he had sent his pregnant wife away.
One night shift, the employer got too close to Kaur. She permanently left the job despite her dire need for money to pay her rent. Three other girls faced a similar situation and left their job. Only one girl stayed, and Kaur felt she was being trapped by the employer into trafficking.
Kaur says she is waiting for her permanent residence status, before she exposes this employer.
A Punjabi police officer visited this employer frequently and was his good friend. He too tried his luck by asking Kaur her phone number, her age and other personal information. Kaur refused.
Then there is the story of a Nepalese girl who came to us to volunteer at ehcw. When I asked why she was so much interested in volunteering in this organization, she revealed her story.
This Nepalese girl told us that she was living with five other girls who faced financial difficulties. She said she noticed that those five girls were being picked up in a vehicle every evening and dropped off in the morning. When she asked them where they were going, theree no response. She tried several times to talk to them, but they remained quiet and reserved.
The Nepalese girl felt that they were being trafficked but she could not see that they were making any financial gains from this activity.
To make parents back in Punjab aware of their daughters exploitation in Canada, we (ehcw) held a press conference in Chandigarh in the winter of 2023-24. Thanks to over a dozen media outlets that attended the press conference, tens of thousands of parents and youth got a direct message that financial and emotional preparation was of the utmost importance for international students arriving in Canada. Otherwise, they fall prey to exploiters, human traffickers and pimps. Or they could end up in the world of crime.
Most youth are not aware that it is their responsibility to report to the office of the Ministry of Labour when an employer does not pay them their wages.
It is urgent that Canada’s legal system applies harsh measures to tackle exploitation of any sort.
Besides that, deportation of those involved in pimping, stealing cars and dealing in drugs should become mandatory. These changes are necessary before we start looking at Canada as a crime hub of the world. If it does become known as one, we are all responsible, whether we are at the political, educational or we are at the community level.
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