Canadian Advocates Demand Review of Rejected Gaza Students’ Study Permits

(MENAFN) Human rights advocates, academics and a Canadian political party leader called on the government on Wednesday to reconsider rejected study permit applications from Palestinian graduate students admitted to Canadian universities, arguing that official assurances of fair treatment have not resulted in the promised outcomes.

Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa on behalf of the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network (PSSAR), Baher Abdulhai said: "Despite repeated assurances from government officials, students from Gaza are receiving refusals, rather than the fair resolutions they were promised."

He said the situation had evolved from prolonged application processing and repeated delays into broader concerns about fairness and government accountability.

"What began as a crisis of endless processing times and delays turned into a crisis of fairness and accountability. Unfortunately, the government’s commitments have not translated into results," he said.

Abdulhai reported that, among 37 students currently outside Gaza whose cases are being monitored by the network, approximately 30 had either been refused permits or were still waiting for meaningful decisions on their applications.

He also raised concerns about the treatment of applicants during immigration interviews, saying some students faced lengthy and intensive questioning before receiving negative decisions.

"To be frank, we are particularly concerned by reports of students undergoing extensive, aggressive, interrogative immigration interviews, only to receive refusals at the end questioning their credibility or alleged affiliations," he said.

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