Rights advocates urge Canada to remove entry barriers for Palestinian graduate students trapped in Gaza

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - Human rights advocates and academics pressed the Canadian government Tuesday to remove obstacles preventing Palestinian graduate students from reaching Canada, warning that current policies are leaving students trapped in life-threatening conditions in the Gaza Strip.

At a news conference in Ottawa, Taha Ghayyur, executive director of Justice for All Canada, a human rights and advocacy organization, criticized Immigration Minister Lena Diab's recent response when asked why 130 Palestinian students were placed under an "exceptional screening regime" despite the destruction of every university in Gaza.

"On Dec. 4, Minister Lena Metlege Diab was asked why the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) placed 130 Palestinian graduate students under an exceptional screening regime…Minister Diab replied that these students must still meet all requirements. This response is unacceptable. It shows no consideration for the catastrophe facing Palestinians in Gaza," he said.

Ghayyur said his organization has documented "the deliberate imposition of exceptional barriers on these students," adding: "Instead of adapting existing frameworks, like the exemptions offered to Ukrainians in 2023, this is a policy decision, a deliberate policy decision."

"It keeps Palestinian students in danger instead of within the Canadian lecture halls that have already accepted them, where they belong," he added.

He also stressed that "the duty of the Canadian government to protect civilians facing mass atrocity is non-negotiable," noting that Canada has not applied mechanisms it already possesses.

"The minister has the authority to waive biometrics but has declined to do so," he said, urging the government to reverse the refusal, evacuate students still trapped in Gaza, end delays for those already processed in Egypt, and restore priority processing.

Nir Hagigi of Independent Jewish Voices Canada said Canada has previously demonstrated flexibility in crises.

"In 2023, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Canada understood that the crisis demanded flexibility," he said, noting that biometric waivers "saved thousands of lives."

"My research showed that while 81% of applications from Ukraine were accepted, only 16% of Palestinian applicants were approved," he said, adding that "these numbers so clearly show whose lives are treated as urgent and whose are treated as disposable."

"Canada cannot claim to defend education, human rights, equality while actively blocking Palestinian students from safety," he said, stressing that these students "have done everything that was asked of them…and now it is Canada's responsibility to do the same."

Nadia Abu-Zahra from Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk (PSSAR), a Canadian network helping Gazan students get to Canadian universities, said "130 students are waiting for their study permits to be processed," with many facing delays of 18 months or more.

"This is not solely about biometrics," she said, adding that "the government is effectively blocking visas, even for those who are eligible and have complete applications."

She noted that Minister Diab "has responded with no consideration for the catastrophic circumstances these students are living through," adding: "Already, two students have been killed and over 20 injured, and several have lost their admissions."

"Inaction on this file undermines Canada's global credibility," she said, stressing that "Canada is choosing not to help."