Each of them had paid 280,000 ngultrum (RM18,600) as tuition and visa fees, but arrived in Malaysia to find that they only held tourist visas besides not having their names enrolled in the college they were supposed to join.
According to Kuensel, a Bhutan daily, education secretary Karma Yeshey wrote to Bhutan’s foreign ministry on Thursday to help bring back the youngsters whose visas had expired.
“A copy of the secretary’s letter has also been sent to the Royal Bhutan Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand for further perusal,” said the report published yesterday. According to the official national portal of Bhutan, the embassy in Thailand is the only one in the Asia-Pacific region.
The letter stated that the affected students were among 23 youths who had sought to apply for student visas and enrolment at Victoria International College, Kuala Lumpur, through Drupthop Education Consultancy & Placement Firm (ECPF) last year.
Drupthop ECPF proprietor Chhimi Rinzin was said to have then sent them to Malaysia on tourist visas in December.
Yeshey reportedly said in his letter that the students were not informed of their actual visa status.
He said Rinzin had arranged for Ravi, her agent in Malaysia, to pick up the students at the airport and place them in an apartment.
The youngsters were asked to attend classes at the Victoria International College without formal admission and a valid visa, the report said.
However, five students managed to return to Bhutan after they found out they could not attend classes.
“We were staying idle in the apartment doing nothing,” one of the five, Doley Tshering, was quoted as saying by Kuensel after he had returned.
By the first week of May, Ravi arranged to stamp “special passes” for which Rinzin was asked to pay an additional RM3,200. He took all the passports and indicated that they would be “released” upon payment, the report said.
After the students’ parents in Bhutan reported the matter to the Department of Adult and Higher Education (DAHE), an agreement was drawn between them and Rinzin on May 16 where she agreed to bring back the students by May 25 and bear all expenses incurred.
However, on the same evening, she had instead allegedly called Ravi and asked him to arrange work for the students, the report said.
“This was a turning point of her stand after which we could not contact her despite all our efforts,” Yeshey was quoted as saying in the letter. “She failed to abide by the agreement.”
“Given the current scenario, their (students’) safety and security are at risk.
“While the students do not seem to be aware of their future and the department has exhausted all means to resolve the issue at the ministerial level, the (education) ministry would like to seek your support for their safe return at the earliest,” he said in the letter to the foreign ministry.
Kuensel also reported that the DAHE issued a notification on Thursday suspending the licences of three education firms including Drupthop ECPF.
It added that an agreement was signed between Rinzin and the parents of the five students who had returned home on April 6 for Rinzin to refund their money by May 31 and hand over the students’ academic transcripts.
The agreement was made with officials from the DAHE’s Quality Assurance and Accreditation Division being present as witnesses, the report said.