Saudia Arabia Orders Saudi Students Out from Canada

Saudi Arabia has announced that it will end its support of Saudi students studying in Canada. Officials from the country have announced that Saudi students have one month to find a flight back to Saudi Arabia. The announcement is one of the results of a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.

The dispute arose after the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted about Canada’s support for human rights and opposition to the detention of political dissidents in Saudi Arabia. After the tweets were posted Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador and recalled its own ambassador to Canada. Some flights between the two countries are set to be suspended later this month.

Saudi Arabia has a scholarship program which pays for nearly all costs for students it send abroad, including in Canada. Now the country is promising to send its students in Canada to similar education programs in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. Saudi Arabia had been sponsoring over 15,000 students in Canada this year.

Both countries seem to be standing firm in their positions regarding this diplomatic dispute. Therefore, it’s difficult to say whether or not the Saudi students will be allowed to come back to Canada anytime soon.