Over 70 students from enclave accepted into graduate programs in Canada remain stranded as immigration backlogs risk their futures, lives
Amid Israel's relentless shelling and deliberate starvation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Meera clung to life with a glimmer of hope after receiving an acceptance letter from Canada's University of Regina in April 2024.
"I applied for the scholarship in a very harsh condition. I was living in a tent. I was displaced with my family, living in a tent in Rafah in a very hard condition. But this did not stop me from dreaming and believing that one day, I will reach my dream and make it come true," she said in an interview with Anadolu.
Although her dreams for an education were backed by a fully funded scholarship, nearly one year after applying for a Canadian study permit, Meera remains trapped in Gaza.
Noting that she has not received a single update on her application from Canadian officials, she said: "In July 2024, I applied for a visa. But until now, it's been almost one year now, and I didn't receive any response from the Immigration Department," adding that it made her deeply frustrated.
"This delay puts both our academic and daily lives in a very risky condition," she said.
With repeated evacuation orders leaving 88% of the enclave within Israeli militarized zones, under displacement orders, or in areas where the two overlap, Meera, like many other Gazans, has already been displaced more than 10 times.
Her family managed to escape to Egypt for her father's medical treatment, but she was left behind just days before the Rafah crossing closed.
"We're facing not only death, we are facing also starvation, where sometimes it's more difficult than death, because of the feeling of being afraid. Every time, you can feel afraid when you go out of your home and you, like, hear a sound of bombing. But it's not a continuous feeling," she said, stressing that the feeling of hunger never goes away.
She also described how it is difficult to see the people she encounters every day being killed one by one.
"Every day, we wake up to the news of people who are killed or injured.
"We don't want to be counted among the dead. We want to be counted among the brilliant engineers and professors, because we deserve that," she added.
Recalling all the difficulties she has to overcome, Meera said: "I'm afraid of losing my life, as we already lost two of our colleagues, Dalia and Sally, who had been accepted at the University of Waterloo to continue their PhD degrees" but were unable to achieve their dreams after being killed by Israel's bombings.
Despite two deferrals, Meera is now at risk of losing her admission and scholarship entirely due to Canada's visa delays.
"To be honest, I'm losing hope by time because there’s been no response from the Canadian government," she said. "I already asked to defer my admission two times. It would be so hard for me (to lose the admission and scholarship), because it wasn't easy to get the scholarship."
Describing her acceptance to the University of Regina as "a sense of hope," Meera said it is what keeps her going every day.
"Every time when I'm feeling depressed and I'm feeling exhausted, I remember that there's something waiting for me. I have to stay strong and keep imagining that good days will come," she said.
Meera said she chose Canada due to its "globally respected" reputation as well as "its high-quality education, for its diversity, for an inclusive society."
- Lack of political will from Canada
"But I didn't find this in my experience," she said, as she referred to countries like France, Italy, and Ireland, which have acted quickly to evacuate and issue visas to their students from Gaza.
However, Meera's story is not unique.
Nada El-Falou, the director of Student Services at Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk (PSSAR), told Anadolu that the NGO has "been able to help over 70 students get accepted into top Canadian universities such as the University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, and so on."
"These are students who have been accepted purely based on merit, and they're not receiving charity at all," she stressed.
El-Falou said that "all their acceptances have been after multiple interviews and making sure that the professor wants them in their lab and that they're the best candidates for their research."
Yet despite completing their applications months ago, and in some cases over a year, their study permits remain in limbo.
"We have students who have been waiting 12 to even up to 16 months of just waiting for their study permits. They're not getting rejected. They're just waiting for them to be processed," El-Falou said.
"Two of our PSSAR students have been killed after receiving their admission," El-Falou confirmed, referring to the killing of Dalia and Sally.
Asked about countries like France, Italy and Ireland's ability to evacuate students from Gaza and issue their visas, she said "the problem isn't that it's not possible. The problem is that Canada doesn't want to, and Canada is lacking the political will."
She recalled Canada's historic record of helping Palestinians, saying: "Why not give them study permits now?"
"It's a lack of political will and the betrayal of Canada's tradition of supporting the right to education. What really needs to be done is a reverse of this purposefully biased procedure towards Palestinians," she said.
For its part, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told Anadolu that it "remains deeply concerned about the ongoing situation in Gaza and recognizes the extremely difficult circumstances faced by people in the region."
Saying that Canada has launched "special measures to support temporary residence for people in Gaza who are the extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents," IRCC stated that "Palestinians impacted by the crisis who have left Gaza will receive transitional financial assistance after they arrive in Canada."
IRCC also stressed that "applying to a Canadian school does not guarantee entry to Canada."
Asked about other countries' swift response in evacuating students from Gaza, IRCC argued that "Canada led the way by being one of the first and few countries to announce temporary measures for those affected by the Israel–Hamas conflict in Gaza."
"All prospective international students must meet certain requirements before we can approve a study permit. This includes providing biometrics so we can complete mandatory security screening," it said, adding that "however, many applicants in Gaza are unable to leave and complete these steps."
"Canada does not control who can leave Gaza; this challenge affects all of our programs for people in Gaza," it said.
But according to PSSAR, one-third of the students have already exited Gaza and are now in Egypt or Jordan and their visas remain unprocessed.
El-Falou said the issue is not technical.
"It's not a bureaucratic problem. It's not a technical problem. It's a lack of political will and the betrayal of Canada's tradition of supporting the right to education."
"They have introduced a new biased and prejudiced process. The background checks have been taking longer than they would in any normal situation," she added.
Asked what could be done now, she said: "There's no straight answer, because every university is different, every program is different, and where the money comes from is different. So we're trying our very best."
"Canada has helped Palestinians in the past, so it doesn't make sense at all why it's failing now," she said.
On background screening processes, the IRCC expressed a commitment to "a fair and non-discriminatory application of immigration procedures."
"The background screening process may involve a criminal history check, a security screening and a medical examination. IRCC conducts a thorough review of the applicant’s personal information which may require them to disclose personal information related to their family, education and work experience," it added.
Anadolu also reached out to the University of Regina but has not received a response.
