Syrian human rights defender becomes a permanent resident of Canada after being flagged as a security risk

The uncertainty that lingered over Noura Aljizawi’s life over the past three years was lifted this past week. After initially flagging her as a potential threat to national security, the Canadian government granted the high-profile Syrian human rights defender and her husband permanent resident status.

Aljizawi, 36, who now lives in Toronto with her husband and five-year-old daughter, says that after getting the good news on Wednesday, she finally feels a “sense of safety.”

“Before, I felt everything was about to be taken away from me – my life, my daughter and my home, my job. Everything I loved,” she said.

The immigration approval comes after a CTV News report filed on June 23 about Aljizawi’s fight in federal court to find out why the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) considered her a security risk. Six months earlier, CBSA informed her in an email that she was being assessed under Section 34 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, but would not tell her what information they had.

The legislation states that a foreign national can be deemed inadmissible on security grounds because they engaged in espionage, terrorism or subversion by force of any government.

ALJIZAWI RE-TRAUMATIZED BY IMMIGRATION PROCESS, SHE SAYS

Aljizawi says she has been re-traumatized by the immigration process. The uncertainty left her in constant fear of deportation and triggered memories of her past arrest and torture, she said.

Aljizawi’s activism began more than a decade ago in Syria during the Arab Spring. As a student in the city of Homs, she organized anti-government protests in 2012. She was thrown in prison and tortured with electric shocks for speaking out against the brutal regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, she said. Aljizawi was released from jail after an international campaign led by Reporters Without Borders and fled to Turkiye.

After the Syrian civil war began, Aljizawi represented opposition parties in failed peace negotiations while in exile.

In 2017, Aljizawi moved to Canada on a student visa after being accepted into the University of Toronto’s program for scholars at risk. Recently, she assisted with Canada’s fight at the International Court of Justice to hold the Syrian regime accountable for war crimes. Aljizawi’s testimony forms part of Canada’s case.

UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR, MPS SPEAK OUT

Following CTV News’ report, more than 300 international human rights organizations and activists from Europe as well as North and South America signed a petition calling on Canada to expedite Aljizawi’s permanent residency application.

On Twitter, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, lauded Aljizawi as “courageous” and asked why she was being flagged as a security risk.

Former justice minister Allan Rock called the government’s actions “deeply troubling.”

“She stood against the monstrous al Assad regime…yet why is Noura Aljizawi being targeted by Canada?” Rock tweeted on June 25.

On June 30, two NDP members of Parliament sent a letter with an urgent request for a briefing on the case to federal ministers responsible for foreign affairs, immigration and public safety.

In a copy of the letter provided to CTV News, MPs Heather McPherson and Jenny Kwan wrote that they “are alarmed by this case and its implications not just for Noura, but for all human rights defenders seeking safety in Canada.

Is it this government’s position that human rights advocacy, including opposing brutal dictatorships that torture their citizens renders a person inadmissible for permanent residency?”

Five days later, Aljizawi was granted permanent residency on July 5. Since her case became public, Aljizawi says she’s heard from three other democracy activists who are facing scrutiny under Section 34.

OFFICIALS MUST REASSESS USE OF SECTION 34: NDP IMMIGRATION CRITIC

Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic, says that Aljizawi’s high profile added pressure on the government to act. But the MP says she also worries that lesser known human rights activists under similar suspicion will not be protected.

Kwan says immigration officials need to reassess how they use Section 34 in evaluating the applications of human rights defenders

“If our government brings forward special immigration policies to support and bring to safety human rights activists, then when they come to Canada and they're embarking on the immigration process, how is it possible that they are red-flagged for potential inadmissibility issues?”

It is not known how many activists are flagged as potential national security threats when they arrive in Canada.