A tent camp for displaced Palestinians, west of Gaza City, in June, 2025.Jehad Alshrafi/The Associated Press
Alex Neve is an international human rights lawyer, a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and an adjunct professor of international human rights law at the University of Ottawa.
For over a year, a group of impressively accomplished Palestinian graduate students admitted to Canadian universities has been left by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in a state of administrative and potentially life-threatening limbo. They have been accepted into master’s and PhD programs at Canadian universities in high-demand fields such as artificial intelligence, public health and engineering. They hold prestigious scholarships and research grants.
Some are trapped in Gaza. Others managed to leave and are now in Cairo or other transit points. All remain trapped by a heartless, silent bureaucracy in this country.
Their study permits have neither been approved nor formally refused. Whether abandoned in Gaza or stranded in Cairo, they remain trapped in purgatory.
Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s official response is that these cases are undergoing “standard processing”: that biometrics must be collected; security screenings take time; everyone must wait their turn. But when a delay for an entire cohort (but not for others) stretches beyond a year, this “processing” narrative feels more and more like fiction. When semesters begin and end without a single word from Ottawa, we are no longer looking at a backlog; this is rejection by delay.
Palestinian visa applications for Canadian asylum blocked without explanation, lawyer says
Canada aggressively markets itself as a global destination for talent. Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly framed the recruitment of the world’s “best minds” as a pillar of national economic growth and innovation. Our ministers speak loftily about global partnerships in a world fractured by conflict. Yet, these highly qualified students, who have already cleared the rigorous academic bars of our top institutions, are being met with a silent wall of stonewalling by our government.
The central issue here is the erosion of procedural fairness. Under Canadian immigration law, an application is either approved or refused. A refusal, while disappointing, carries reasons. It can be legally reviewed. It provides closure and transparency. Indefinite processing provides neither. It quietly nullifies admission offers and research placements without the government ever having to admit to or justify saying “no.”
Canada has shown, time and again, that our immigration system can be agile when the political will exists. During the Syrian refugee crisis, officials administered biometrics in camps in Jordan. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the government implemented special measures to bypass traditional bottlenecks. We have the blueprints for responsiveness and flexibility; we are simply choosing not to use them for Palestinians.
Our allies are doing the right thing. Many European states have facilitated the evacuation of Palestinian scholars. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly welcomed Gazan students and is exploring expedited pathways to facilitate their arrival. By comparison, Canada’s inertia is conspicuous and, frankly, shameful.
Opinion: Canada needs to follow through on its promise to help Palestinians
No one is suggesting that Canada bypass or abandon visa or security requirements. Safeguards are essential. But so is fairness. The federal government recently announced a 14-day accelerated processing stream for international PhD students, proving again that the system can move at light speed for “priority” candidates. Why, then, are Palestinian PhD candidates, many of whom are already admitted to the very same programs, left out?
This administrative limbo creates a two-tier system. And it is difficult to come up with any explanation for the double standards other than how it feels: racism. It has to be said, and it has to be addressed. On one side are applicants who receive clear outcomes; on the other are those whose files are allowed to languish until their opportunities simply expire. And time after time, those on that other side are Palestinians.
And let’s be clear. This is not just a hardship for the students; it is a loss for Canada. Many of these applicants have already given up on us, taking their talents to Britain, France or Ireland, where they have been readily welcomed.
If these applications must be refused, then do so, and provide the reasons. If they can be approved, approve them. If additional screening is required, set a defined, transparent timeline.
A delay of weeks is processing. A delay of months is a backlog. But a delay of a year, without explanation or end, is a de facto rejection. These students are not asking for a shortcut; they are asking for an answer. In a country governed by the rule of law, that should not be too much to expect.