NDP urges federal government to provide biometrics options for Palestinian students awaiting study permits

The federal NDP has called on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to immediately implement biometrics options to fast-track study permits for 136 Palestinian students, who despite receiving admission offers and scholarships at 26 Canadian universities, remain trapped in limbo. 

At an April 14 news conference in Ottawa, newly elected NDP Leader Avi Lewis said that IRCC should allow Palestinian students to complete fingerprint or retinal scans in Canada; provide temporary biometrics exemptions or deferrals; and create remote or alternative processing options. 

“These are secure and humane alternatives that are both feasible and already in use around the world – alternatives that ensure fair, timely decisions for qualified applicants who have already been accepted at Canadian universities,” added Mr. Lewis. “This is about justice, equitable treatment and fundamental human rights.” 

According to an NDP background document, 98 Palestinian students remain in Gaza where biometrics processing is unavailable. Yet as the party highlighted, under section 12.8 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), biometrics are not required when compliance is “impossible or not feasible.” 

Another 27 students have applied for Canadian study permits from Egypt where they face additional security screening for anyone who was in Gaza after July 1, 2023 – three months before Israel began its military assault on the region. 

The NDP noted that this extra screening has caused delays of more than 18 months, compared to a standard nine-week processing time for study permits in Egypt.  

Alaa (whose last name University Affairs agreed to withhold for security reasons) has waited for 23 months to obtain a study permit. In March 2024, the 40-year-old Palestinian man who holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Islamic University of Gaza, was admitted to the doctoral program in engineering at the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal. He was scheduled to begin his studies that Fall, with a research focus on improving data transmission in urban wireless networks. At the time, he obtained an annual stipend of $18,750 from ÉTS, a scholarship through Fonds de recherche Québec, and secured a teaching and research position under his postgraduate supervisor – all the while providing IRCC with the required supporting documentation, biometrics and processing fees for his study permit.  

And Saudi Arabia-born Alaa, who is in Cairo, where he, his wife and their three children fled to in April 2024 to escape the war in Gaza, is one of five Palestinian postgraduate students who have filed mandamus applications with the Federal Court to compel IRCC to issue their study permits. He told University Affairs that if he doesn’t receive one soon, he will lose his doctoral opportunity at ETS in May. 

Nadia Abu-Zahra, a professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa and a member of the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk (PSSR) Network, said in an interview that since she joined the university faculty in 2008, she has never seen foreign graduate students, as a group, face a “blanket holdup like this.” 

“This is, in effect, a concerted effort to block Palestinian students from coming to the universities that have accepted them and offered them scholarships,” she said.  

Dr. Abu-Zahra added that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Lena Diab is forcing students “to stay in the same place where students and professors are being killed.” 

“It’s a complete dehumanization of students whose main goal is to flourish and to give to society – and Canada is treating them in a totally different way from the way it treats everyone else.”  

According to the PSSR Network, only eight Palestinian students, most of whom had their applications processed in Europe, arrived in Canada last year. 

IRCC said in a statement that the federal government is “deeply concerned about the ongoing situation in Gaza and recognize[s] the extremely difficult circumstances faced by people in the region, including those hoping to study in Canada.”  

“It is important to distinguish between those applying for a study permit and those applying under the special measures to support temporary residence for people in Gaza who are the extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. These special measures are being prioritized, consistent with Canada’s priority to reunite families and provide a temporary safe haven for directly affected Palestinians with family support in Canada,” according to the statement. 

“We understand that some students, including those with acceptance letters from Canadian institutions, have been experiencing increased processing times for their study permit applications. While an offer of admission is an important step, it does not automatically lead to a study permit. All prospective international students must meet the requirements of Canada’s immigration system — including obtaining a letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution and securing an approved study permit—before they can travel to Canada.” 

The department said that “anyone looking to come to Canada must meet our admissibility and eligibility requirements, including biometrics and security screening, as set out in the IRPA and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. Security screening is conducted by Canada’s security partners, who operate independently from IRCC. The timing and results of these screenings are outside of IRCC’s control. Biometrics can only be completed after people leave Gaza, as IRCC has no presence there.”