Government with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will be sending home a batch of 12 Lambirds Academy students to their respective countries on Monday (June 8).
St. Lucia News Online (SNO) understands that the students were informed of the decision on Wednesday (June 3) during a meeting with government and other officials.
Fifteen students were initially selected to travel, but four declined, because they think the case might be completed soon and is hopeful that they could get a refund before returning home.
One of the students who were selected told SNO that they will depart the Hewanorra International Airport at about 6 a.m. (June 8) to United Kingdom, before arriving in India and Nepal.
This process is expected to continue in the following week, whereby students attached to this case will be repatriated.
Each of the students was promised that once the case is completed and their monies are recovered, it will be sent to them. They were all issued statements/tickets by local police, which validates this agreement.
However, they were reminded by the officials, who they met with them on Wednesday that the case could take a maximum of 10 years, or it could be completed in less than two years.
The male student said he and friends are happy to return home after being stranded here for several months. He said he is glad that he will be able to reunite with his family, but is still worried about his future.
The academy’s Chief Executive Officer Iftekhar Shams is facing charges of more than 60 counts of money laundering and human trafficking. Shams and three others are accused of scamming the students.
The students are mainly from Nepal, India and the Philippines. They claimed that they each paid US$9, 000 for the courses and US$13,000 to get to St. Lucia, to undertake various courses.
However on arrival here, they were told by law enforcement authorities that they had been duped.
Some of the students have already been returned to their home with the assistance of the IOM.