Canadian academics are calling on the federal government to urgently expedite student visa approvals for Palestinian students after the tragic deaths of two young women who had secured admission to a Canadian university but were killed before they could leave Gaza.
The students, twin sisters, lost their lives in an airstrike in Gaza in December, according to Ayman Oweida, chair of the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network. This volunteer network of Canadian academics helps connect Palestinian graduate students with research opportunities across Canada, but its efforts have been severely disrupted by Israeli military operations and the absence of a Canadian diplomatic presence in Gaza. Without such a presence, students are unable to submit the necessary biometric data required for visa processing.
Despite these challenges, the network has managed to place approximately 70 students at universities across the country, many of whom have secured full scholarships. However, the human toll has been devastating. At least 15 accepted students from Gaza have lost immediate family members—brothers, sisters, parents—during the conflict. Oweida, a cancer researcher at the University of Sherbrooke, shared that one student scheduled to join his lab has been trapped in Gaza for over a year. Repeated efforts to gain support from Canadian MPs have yielded no meaningful progress.
One of the stranded students is Meera Falyouna, a 25-year-old master’s student in industrial engineering who was accepted to the University of Regina. Living in a tent near the Rafah border with her family, she applied in December 2023 and was accepted in April 2024, but her visa application has been stalled since July 2024 due to the inability to complete biometric verification. She watches her peers leave for studies in countries like France, Ireland, and Italy, while her dream remains on hold.
Falyouna expressed a deep desire not just to escape the conflict but to contribute meaningfully to both Canada and the future of Palestine. “I don’t want to be among the dead people. I want to be counted as dreamers, as future engineers, professors, doctors,” she said. “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.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) responded that biometric data must be collected outside Gaza, and that border access is controlled by countries like Egypt and Israel. Additional security screenings for Gazan applicants, introduced after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, have also led to unpredictable and prolonged processing times. IRCC stressed that applications are assessed under the same criteria regardless of origin, but that individual processing times vary.
Falyouna’s situation is further complicated by the closure of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024. Her family managed to cross into Egypt just days before the shutdown, leaving her behind. She now fears that her repeated requests for deferral will lead to her losing her academic placement altogether. “I already asked for a defer for my admission three times before,” she said, explaining that her professor is still trying to keep her position secure.
Trent University professor Aaron Shafer, who specializes in genomics, said that a student who was set to join his lab has been stuck in Gaza for eight months, and has visibly lost weight due to food shortages. “Last week he said, ‘We’re happy because people are getting food. We haven’t received any yet, but we’re happy,’” Shafer shared. He added that about one-third of the 70 accepted students are currently in Egypt but continue to wait for visa approval.
Academics and students alike are urging the Canadian government to show the same level of support and urgency that was extended to students fleeing crises in Ukraine and Syria. “We want to be treated fairly,” said Falyouna. “We just want to be alive to complete our dreams.”