‘The circumstances in Iran continue to be difficult’
Time running out for Iranians allowed to stay in Canada as protection from regime
OTTAWA — Lawyers representing Iranian temporary residents in Canada, who have been allowed to stay here for fear of returning to Iran, say they have gotten nothing but silence from the federal government over extending the arrangement, which is set to expire this month.
In February 2023, the Canadian government announced it would allow Iranians already here on visitor or students visas, who feared returning to Iran, to extend their stay until February 2024. It also waived costs for Canadians in Iran to get travel documents to return home.
These were in response to the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on dissidents following 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in custody after being beaten by Iran’s “morality police” for falling to properly wear a hijab. Her death sparked the anti-regime “Woman, Life, Freedom movement” in Iran. The Islamic regime responded with mass arrests and alleged human rights abuses.
“Our government is continuing to stand up for the people of Iran by making it easier for Iranians who wish to extend their stay here in Canada to be with their families, and allowing them to continue to work and study in safety,” then-minister of immigration Sean Fraser said in a news release. “We will continue to work closely with the Iranian-canadian community who is resolved to shed light on the repressive actions of the Iranian regime.”
The government also increased sanctions against Iran in response to the crackdown.
The immigration measures are set to expire on Feb. 28.
Pantea Jafari, an Iranian lawyer, said Canada should extend the measures because the human rights situation in Iran has not improved since last year.
“The circumstances in Iran continue to be difficult, and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement is still active,” she said.
Jafari said many Iranians in Canada fear they cannot return to their country now, but hope the movement will eventually lead to real reform and change in Iran.
“The alternative for Iranians would be to make a refugee claim and I know many of them are resisting doing that, because they hope, especially with respect to this movement, that there is potentially a regime change that would allow them to return.”
Jafari said Iranians in Canada have raised the issue with the federal government, but have so far heard nothing about a possible extension.
Firoozeh Bahrami, a lawyer and president of the group Iranian Canadian Legal Professionals, wrote a letter to Immigration Minister Marc Miller encouraging him to extend the program.
“Over the past 12 months, the situation surrounding human rights in Iran has rapidly deteriorated, with the Iranian regime continuing to unlawfully arrest, torture and execute ordinary citizens without due process,” she wrote. “We are gravely concerned that the Government of Canada has yet to commit to its extension.”