Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Canada Hajj pilgrims, Saudi students face uncertainty due to diplomatic row

Published 2018-08-16, 08:00 a/m
Updated 2018-08-16, 08:00 a/m
Canada Hajj pilgrims, Saudi students face uncertainty due to diplomatic row

Canada Hajj pilgrims, Saudi students face uncertainty due to diplomatic row

By Danya Hajjaji and Andrea Hopkins

TORONTO/OTTAWA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Canadian Muslims traveling to the Hajj pilgrimage face delays coming back due to a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia that is also prompting thousands of students from the kingdom to scramble to sell their assets and return home to meet a month-end deadline.

As the stalemate continues, Canada is reaching out to its allies, including the United States and European Union, to rally support, and talking to Saudi Arabia to resolve the dispute.

Riyadh abruptly severed diplomatic and trade ties earlier this month in response to Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland's tweet demanding the release of civil society activists in the kingdom. Riyadh also ended state-backed educational and medical programs in Canada, resulting Saudi students here hustling to return home. Halifax, the Ummah Masjid organized yard sales to help students sell their furniture, electronics and even cars.

"Some of them, they only come one week ago and they are prepared to leave," said Abdallah Yousri, the mosque's imam. "Some of them, they were in Saudi Arabia for summer vacation, and they just came to sell their products and then leave ."

As of the end of June, there were more than 5,100 Saudi students with valid study permits for post-secondary institutions in Canada.

Many Canadian Muslims had booked flights with Saudia, the Kingdom's official airline, to perform the Hajj pilgrimages in the Saudi city of Mecca, which takes place from August 19 to 24 this year.

While Saudia trips to Mecca before August 13 were not affected, returns home prove to be a concern for many.

"We're nervous as a family because we don't want her to be stranded in an airport," Jawad Chaudhry, a real estate broker in Hamilton, said of his mother, who is traveling via Saudia for Hajj.

SILENT ALLIES

Freeland has spoken with officials of the European Union, Germany, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to find support, a spokesman for the foreign minister told Reuters.

"We have a dialogue that is continuing with the Saudis, that's encouraging, we know that we need to maintain an open dialogue with them to resolve this issue," he added.

But silence from Canada's traditional backers has sparked some soul-searching in Ottawa.

The big issue is the future of foreign relationships in a world where Canada can no longer count on support from its major allies, said Roland Paris, a former foreign affairs adviser to Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"We're getting a glimpse of what the world looks like when the United States isn't a strong advocate of human rights, one in which liberal democracies are keeping their heads down," Paris said.

The U.S. State Department last week urged Canada and Saudi Arabia to use diplomacy to resolve their dispute, which did not come up during a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday. L1N1UY1I1 Rae, former leader of the federal Liberal party, said Canada has to be more strategic about how to push its human rights agenda.

"There needs to be a clearer sense of strategy about why we are intervening in some situations and not in others, and how one would ever expect countries to take criticism without responding," Rae told Reuters.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.