‘Safe haven’: Iranian Canadians urge Ottawa to weed out regime officials
Global News
Documents released by the foreign interference commission summarize public consultations with the Iranian diaspora.
Canada must do more to avoid becoming a safe haven for members of Iran’s regime, Iranian Canadians warned in documents unsealed by the foreign interference commission Thursday.
Documents released by the Hogue Commission summarize public consultations held last year with the Iranian diaspora concerning foreign interference and what to do about it.
In particular, Iranian Canadians called for better screening to weed out regime officials who served in the government of the Islamic republic before arriving in this country.
“Certain attendees talked about the presence of Iranian government officials who were involved in criminal activities and human rights abuses in Canada,” the commission wrote.
Community members also told the inquiry that “Iranian Canadian community organizations have been infiltrated and taken over by persons acting on behalf of the Iranian regime.”
Global News revealed this week that despite Ottawa’s promise to expel top regime officials, the Canada Border Services Agency had deported only one of the 18 identified so far.
Canada “is known as a safe haven for Islamic regime officials and their families,” Tehran-born human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay said in her presentation.
It was “very traumatizing” for Iranian Canadians to see officials from the Islamic regime in Canada, she said, recalling an incident that saw “Iranian nuclear officials” invited to the University of British Columbia.
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