Thousands of students across Canada directed to leave by end of August amid diplomatic row

Hundreds of Saudi Arabian students in B.C. will be leaving the country by the end of the month after the kingdom directed them to relocate.

The move by Saudi government officials, which includes the withdrawal of student scholarships, comes amid a diplomatic row between the kingdom and Canada, after a tweet from Global Affairs called for the release of a Canadian prisoner. 

Since then the Canadian ambassador has been sent home and trade deals have been halted.

'They're wondering what's next'

There were 8,310 Saudi students enrolled in Canadian post-secondary schools from January to May 2018, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's website, with 1,645 of those in B.C. 

Aboubakar Idriss, academic adviser at the Victoria campus of Sprott Shaw Language College, said the 13 Saudi students enrolled there are confused and sad to be leaving.

"Because everything happened so quickly, the majority just have a lot of questions… They're wondering what's next, what do we do," Idriss told Jason D'Souza​, host of CBC's All Points West.

Both government-sponsored and self-sponsored students are being directed to leave Canada by the end of August and Idriss said students have a lot of arrangements to make in a short period of time.

Many have leases on houses and cars that they'll have to manage.

"They have a lot on their minds. Some of their kids are supposed to start school next month," he said.

Bittersweet welcome

Idriss said he greeted one student for the first time on Tuesday morning — but it was a bittersweet welcome.

"I told him 'welcome to Canada,' it was his first day, and when he left the school I told him goodbye, because he's not coming back again... He told me his dream was to move here, he has been thinking and planning it for a long time and now he has to leave," Idriss said.

Some students are already in their third or fourth year of study and are worried about the future of their education, Idriss said. 

But he says he is encouraging them to think about how to continue building on what they've accomplished so far in Canada.

"I almost lost my voice today because we've been having really long conversations," Idriss said.

"I'm really overwhelmed because of the emotions of this morning. I only hope that everything will end up well for everyone."