18 conned Bhutanese students stranded in Malaysia?

PETALING JAYA: Eighteen Bhutanese students are said to be stranded in Malaysia since March after an education consultancy firm failed to deliver their promised student visas to study in Kuala Lumpur.
They were among 23 students who had applied for student visa and enrollment at a private college in Kuala Lumpur through a consultancy firm called Drupthop Education Consultancy & Placement Firm (Drupthop ECPF) last year.
The KuenselOnline of Bhutan yesterday reported that parents of 18 stranded were expected to meet education ministry officials to get their children home.
Five of the students have managed to make their way back to Bhutan. Their parents sought the help of the court and police in Bhutan to get a refund of the money they paid the firm. Each student paid Nu 280,000 (RM18,600) as tuition fee and student visa fee.
The amount was paid to proprietor of Drupthop ECPF, Chhimi Rinzin, as tuition fees for a three-year Bachelors and two-year diploma in hospitality management, according to the report.
The students were said to have applied for loans to pay the consultancy firm.
Chhimi Rinzin reportedly disappeared after failing to comply with the third internal agreement executed between the firm and the parents of five students. The parties signed the agreement on April 6 in presence of officials from the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Division, representing the Department of Adult and Higher Education (DAHE) as witness.
Chief programme officer of DAHE, NB Raika, visited Malaysia to see the condition of 18 students after the department received a complaint from the students who returned home. He managed to meet only seven there.
“Five of them were staying idle in an apartment without any work,” said NB Raika, adding that the rest of the students got part-time jobs although their special permit visas expired on June 7.
“Of the seven students I met, six wanted to return home because they don’t feel safe there. I advised them to return home as soon as possible to process student visa and go back to Malaysia.”
However, he has not heard from them since then.