New Delhi: With American authorities
raiding a university in North Virginia on charges of fraud,
New Delhi has asked the US to ensure that the students, 90 per
cent of whom are Indians, are not victimised in any manner as
they all have valid documents.
Noting that the university will not be closed
immediately and will be given a month`s notice to explain,
Ministry of External Affairs said, "It is further understood
that there will not be a mass termination of University of
Northern Virginia (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.
"We have impressed upon the US authorities the need to
ensure that the students are not victimised 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 Annandale campus of UNV was raided on Wednesday by
officials from various federal agencies, including Immigration
and FBI on the charges of fraud.
"We understand that the US immigration authorities
(ICE) served a notice of intent yesterday, on the UNVA to
withdraw its authorisation. However the University would not
be shut down immediately but would be given a one month notice
for explanation," the MEA said, adding ICE has kept the Indian
Embassy briefed, as a very large percentage of the 2,400 UNVA
students are from India.
MEA and the Mission in Washington are closely
following the developments and are in the process of obtaining
all details in the matter, the Ministry`s official
spokesperson said.
This is the second incident in last seven months. In
January, US authorities raided and shut down Tri-Valley
University in California on charges of massive immigration
fraud, leaving over a thousand Indian students` fate hanging.
PTI
