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CBC
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
As Palestinian students await Canadian visas, some are welcomed by France
Several Palestinian graduate students awaiting visas to study in Canada have been accepted by France in the last two weeks, said a group of professors advocating to bring them here. The group says dozens of students who received scholarships or admission letters from Canadian universities have been stranded as they face delays from Canada's Immigration Department. Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk (PSSAR) says the fact that some of those students are on their way to France — or have already arrived — is a sign of the Canadian government's neglect. "We're happy that the [students] actually got an opportunity," said Ayman Oweida, a health science professor at the Université de Sherbrooke and chair of PSSAR. "The heartbreak is that they did not come to us, when we've really put everything we can to have them come here." The students and professors began publicly raising alarms over the delays earlier this month. At the time, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CBC News it does not have the ability to conduct security clearance checks — obtaining biometric information such as photos and fingerprints — on the ground in Gaza, making it harder for Palestinians trying to enter Canada. It also acknowledged there could be delays for students who have already left Gaza. It said visa processing times can vary based on "whether an application is complete, if IRCC has to wait for additional information, how easily IRCC can verify the information provided and the complexity of an application." 'Dreams in Gaza destroyed' Ihab, a graduate student who just got accepted into Centrale Méditerranée, a university in Marseille, France, said in an interview his first choice was the University of Alberta. "I applied for a visa application at the IRCC, and I am waiting a long time," he said from Marseille. CBC News has agreed not to disclose Ihab's full name because he is worried about the safety of loved ones who remain in Gaza. CBC News saw an admission letter from the University of Alberta accepting him into a master's program in mechanical engineering last March, as well as a message from the IRCC acknowledging his visa application from mid-April. Ihab said he got no further communication from Immigration Canada, and applied to Méditerrannée on June 1. An admission letter shows he was accepted into the French university's biomedical engineering master's program on June 17. His French visa was validated just weeks later, on July 10. Ihab said French authorities helped him evacuate Gaza and conducted biometrics tests in Jordan. "I feel the government of France makes a lot of effort," he said, by providing support to students and contacting other organizations to facilitate their arrival. Ihab graduated with a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from Al-Azhar University in Gaza City. That campus has been reduced to rubble in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The enclave no longer has any active universities. The Israeli Defence Forces said they found weapons like rockets and explosives at Al-Azhar, accusing Hamas of using the facility to stage attacks. Ihab said he has friends who applied to Canadian universities in early 2024, and they have yet to leave the war zone. "They stay in Gaza, and their dreams in Gaza destroyed," he said. CBC News saw a similar series of documents for another student, who received an offer from the University of Calgary in June 2024. While the student was waiting for a Canadian visa, they were accepted at France's Université Grenoble Alpes in November 2024 and obtained a scholarship from France at the end of May. The student told PSSAR they now intend to withdraw from the University of Calgary. Three other students have also informed the group of their intentions to withdraw from admissions to Canadian schools, one stating they have already been evacuated by France, and the other two saying they have been offered evacuation. At the end of April, the French newspaper Le Monde reported some 115 Palestinians, mostly university scholarship recipients, had arrived in France. Nearly 900 Palestinians arrived from Gaza The Immigration Department did not answer a direct question on whether or not it is consulting with France on best practices to get people out of Gaza. It said in a statement that "as of July 8, more than 1,750 people who exited Gaza have passed security screenings," gaining approval to come to Canada. Of those, 864 have arrived. However, advocates say these are Palestinians who found their own way out of Gaza to Egypt, with no help from the Canadian government. IRCC noted universities make their decisions independently of the department. "However, all prospective international students must meet the requirements of Canada's immigration system — including obtaining a letter from a designated learning institution and securing an approved study permit — before they can travel to Canada." According to a French government website, visa applicants who live in Gaza must make their requests in Ramallah in the West Bank or Jerusalem, due to the ongoing war. France normally employs a third-party organization, VFS Global, to help applicants in Gaza. Oweida said he was surprised how the French government can leverage its diplomatic relationship with Israel to let Palestinians bound to France out of Gaza, in comparison to Ottawa's efforts. "France has had a really critical standpoint against Israel's ongoing war in Gaza," he said. "Canada should be able to do what France did."
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Academics call on Ottawa to speed up Palestinian student visas
OTTAWA — A group of Canadian academics is calling on the federal government to speed up approvals of student visas for Palestinians after two students who were accepted at a Canadian university died before they could leave the region. Ayman Oweida, chair of the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network, said the two students, twin sisters, were killed in an airstrike in Gaza in December. The Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network is a volunteer group of Canadian academics that helps connect Palestinian students at the graduate level and above to research projects in Canada. But its work was set back by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. The Canadian government has no diplomatic presence there — which means students in the enclave have no way to register biometric data with the government in order to complete their visa applications. The network says it has placed about 70 students in universities across the country, several with full scholarships. 'In addition to the two students that were killed, 15 students in Gaza who we've accepted have lost family members … direct family members, brothers, sisters, parents, and so on,' Oweida said. Oweida, who researches cancer treatment at the University of Sherbrooke, said one student who was supposed to work with him on a project has been stuck in Gaza for a year. He said the Canadian side of the network has reached out to MPs to try to resolve the issue, without success. 'I think the Canadian government has really an amazing opportunity here to step up its game and do something … to resolve this issue and bring these students home, home meaning Canada,' he said. One of the Canada-bound students still stranded in Gaza is Meera Falyouna, who is living near the Rafah border crossing. The 25-year-old masters student said she applied to the University of Regina while living in a tent with her family in December 2023. She was accepted to the industrial engineering program in April 2024 and submitted her Canadian student visa application in July 2024. Falyouna said she was supposed to start her studies last September. Because she's unable to provide the necessary biometric data for her visa application, she said, her file remains stuck in limbo even as she watches friends move on to study in places like France, Ireland and Italy. 'I don't want to be among the dead people. I want to be counted as dreamers, as future engineers, professors, doctors,' Falyouna told The Canadian Press. 'I want to be a person who has impact to Canada and also one day to return back to my country and help to rebuild the Palestinian academic system.' Matthew Krupovich, a spokesman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, said that biometrics can only be completed once someone leaves Gaza. He added that countries in the region, including Egypt and Israel, control their own entry and exit requirements at their borders. People coming to Canada from Gaza also have to undergo an additional security screening since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. 'As security screening is conducted by agencies outside IRCC, we are unable to provide average processing times. Each application is different and as a result, the time it takes to process may vary,' Krupovich said in an email response. 'All study permit applications from around the world are assessed equally and against the same criteria, regardless of the country of origin. Security screening is one, but not the only, factor that can result in higher processing times.' The Rafah border crossing into Egypt has been closed since May 2024. Falyouna said the rest of her family got to Egypt just five days before the border closed. Falyouna said she fears she and her fellow Palestinian students could lose their placements entirely. 'I'm receiving now a support from my professor. She pushed to accept my defer letter every time, but I'm still in risk to not be accepted next time because I already asked for a defer for my admission three times before,' she said. Aaron Shafer, an associate professor specializing in genomics at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., said that a Palestinian student who was going to work with him has been trapped in Gaza for eight months. Shafer said he thinks the student has lost weight in the last eight months due to a dire shortage of food in Gaza. 'He probably weighed — just looking at photos, we've never met — 60 kilograms, but he's a small guy. And last week he said, 'We're happy because people are getting food. We haven't received any yet, but we're happy,'' Shafer said. Shafer said that about a third of the students who have been accepted by universities in Canada are already in Egypt but are still waiting for their visa applications to be processed. 'It's literally 70 students. And so that's what we're asking for, is to process the visas of 70 students that have positions in Canadian labs,' he said. For now, all Falyouna and the other students can do is wait and try to survive. 'I want to say to the Canadian government that we want to be treated as other students who came from at-risk situations from countries of the world like Ukraine and like Syria,' she said. 'We want to be to treated like them. We want to be treated fairly, we want to have the support they got. We just want to be alive to complete our dreams.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025. David Baxter, The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Free Press
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
In the news today: Manitoba town to evacuate due to wildfire
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed… Manitoba town to evacuate due to wildfire The northern Manitoba town of Lynn Lake has issued a mandatory evacuation order as a nearby wildfire threatens to cause an imminent loss of power to the community. The evacuation begins Friday, though officials haven't provided a time for when residents must be out of their homes. The town says that if wildfire activity affects Manitoba Hydro transmission lines, residents could see a power outage lasting at least one month. Town officials also noted several other wildfires near Lynn Lake, including two blazes to the southeast that could cut off travel between Lynn Lake and Thompson. A reception centre has been set up in the city of Brandon, more than 1,100 kilometres south of Lynn Lake. There are 60 wildfires currently burning in Manitoba, 17 of which are classified as out of control. Here's what else we're watching… Professors want Palestinian student visas approved A group of Canadian academics is calling on the federal government to speed up approvals of student visas for Palestinians after two students who were accepted at a Canadian university died before they could leave the region. Ayman Oweida, chair of the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network, said the two students, twin sisters, were killed in an airstrike in Gaza in December. The Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network is a volunteer group of Canadian academics that helps connect Palestinian students at the graduate level and above to research projects in Canada. But its work was set back by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. The Canadian government has no diplomatic presence there — which means students in the enclave have no way to register biometric data with the government in order to complete their visa applications. The network says it has placed about 70 students in universities across the country, several with full scholarships. Twain, boots and buckles set to launch Stampede The Old West will be on full display as thousands clad in tassels, boots and buckles march through city streets today to kick off the Calgary Stampede. Country superstar Shania Twain will saddle up and lead the parade on horseback before performing Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Stampede runs until July 13. 'I can't think of a better parade marshal,' said Joel Cowley, the Stampede's chief executive. 'We expect to see 300,000-plus lining the streets once again. What a great way to kick off the Calgary Stampede.' People have traditionally arrived hours before the parade begins to get good seats. Stampede Park has been busy for the past week as crews assemble midway rides and concession stands. Pancakes flipped as politicos gather for Stampede The first political pancakes were flipped Thursday as party leaders from around Canada gather for the Calgary Stampede — a can't-miss event for politicos trying to shore up support for elections near and far. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek led an early morning crowd through a series of 'yahoos' and donned aprons for the traditional flapjack toss that informally heralds the start of the rodeo that dubs itself The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. The 10-day event is an annual staple for politicos of all stripes as they hit what's commonly known as the summer barbecue circuit, with their own problems and goals simmering in the background. 'If you want to make national news in July, this is the place to do it,' said Lori Williams, political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary. 'Everybody shows up.' Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to host a party fundraising event on Saturday with Energy Minister Tim Hodgson and Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is also hosting a Saturday barbecue. B.C. field coroners, paid $32 an hour, seek raise They work on gruesome scenes of death, sometimes traversing rough terrain to access bodies in various states of decomposition. British Columbia field coroner Leena Chandi said the things that she and her colleagues encounter 'are not what most people see, and nobody should have to see that.' Yet field coroners say they are among the most underpaid workers in the province's emergency services sector, receiving just over $32 an hour as they work on scenes that can be risky and stressful. The province's field coroners are now hoping to improve their situation, sending a letter to their bosses and members of the legislature in an 'urgent' plea for an increase in pay that they say has stagnated for nearly a decade. The letter, obtained by The Canadian Press, says field coroners — who differ from full-time investigative coroners — haven't had a wage increase since 2016 and high inflation and the rising cost of living make the job unsustainable. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025.
