Dear colleagues,
AASUA has written a letter urging the Government of Canada to take immediate action to resolve excessive delays in the processing of study permits for 130 Palestinian graduate students who have been admitted to Canadian universities. Conflict conditions in Gaza and the broader region have created unreasonable barriers in securing application requirements, leaving these students’ immigration applications in limbo.
Fifty-five of these students have been accepted here at the University of Alberta. For over a year, our members’ research has been placed on hold, and the critical research funding promised for these students’ teaching and research assistantships remains at risk.
We are calling on the government to apply an expedited process as it has in the past when international students set to study in Canada have been endangered by global conflict.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers and other academic staff associations in Canada have sent similar letters requesting action on this critical matter. The University of Alberta’s own Disrupted and Displaced Scholars Palestinian Scholars and Students (DPSS) initiative is also working to provide support for these students.
You can read our letter here.
Sincerely,
Gordon Swaters
AASUA President