Inside Canada’s sluggish process for deporting senior Iranian officials
Canada's process for deporting senior Iranian officials has faced criticism for being slow and complex, with only one official removed since a 2022 ban. Cases like that of Abbas Omidi, a former geologist in Iran's government, highlight the challenges in defining who qualifies as a senior official under immigration rules. Lengthy hearings, ambiguous criteria, and appeals have led to delays, frustrating both advocates and critics of the deportations.
- ▪The Canada Border Services Agency has identified 34 Iranian officials for possible deportation, but only one has been removed since the 2022 ban.
- ▪Abbas Omidi’s deportation hearing focused on his rank in Iran’s public service rather than his political loyalty or human rights record.
- ▪Canada uses the 'top-half test' to determine if a public servant is senior, but this standard is currently being challenged in court.
- ▪Since November 2022, the CBSA has received over 450 tips and is investigating or seeking to deport 90 individuals linked to the Iranian regime.
- ▪Only one senior Iranian official, Majid Iranmanesh, has been deported, while seven others have left Canada voluntarily.
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Open this photo in gallery:Canada’s efforts to deport high-ranking members of the Iranian government have come under renewed scrutiny. Mojdeh Shahriari, a Vancouver-based refugee lawyer who fled from Iran in 1986, suggests banning all Iranian government officials from the country.Shaghayegh Moradiannejad/The Globe and MailShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountOn the first day of his recent deportation hearing, Abbas Omidi found himself at loggerheads with the government lawyer arguing for his removal from Canada.At issue was not his loyalty to the repressive Iranian regime, his employer for nearly 27 years. And no one was suggesting he was involved in violent crackdowns on protesters. Instead, the back and forth was rather more mundane.
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