10 fewer Saudi students at U of S

Enrolment declines after Kingdom withdraws funding over political spat

REGINA Like the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan also saw its enrolment drop due to an international spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia.

According to the U of S, there were 19 students from Saudi Arabia attending the school in January 2018, but only nine enrolled right now.

Before the fall semester began in September, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to withdraw financial support for more than 15,000 Saudi international students attending universities in Canada.

“The difference of 10 reflects some students who were likely impacted by the actions of the Saudi government (we know of at least two graduate students who were withdrawn but were also given an offer to return if they wished when the matter was resolved), some who graduated, as well as some who left for other reasons that were unrelated,” said a statement from Jennifer Thoma, a media spokeswoman for the U of S.

It is one of the measures the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took against Canada in the early days of a feud between the two nations.

Although first asked on Monday morning about the number of students from the country still attending the U of S, the university did not release the information until late Friday afternoon.

Earlier this week, the University of Regina said it had 119 fewer Saudi Arabian students attending the school this semester.

During the summer, the school had 152 students hailing from Saudi Arabia; but when the winter semester started at the beginning of January, that number had dropped to 33.

The international issue arose because of a tweet by Canada’s Global Affairs Ministry, decrying the arrest and detention of two female activists in Saudi Arabia, and urging Saudi authorities to free the two women. The Saudi Foreign Ministry called it an attempt to interfere with Saudi internal affairs, and announced it was suspending future trade with Canada and severing diplomatic ties.