An Afghan student who received a $75,000 scholarship from Wilfrid Laurier University has been the subject of controversy after being denied a student visa by the federal immigration department. Despite her high GPA and record of involvement in supporting women\u2019s education in her home country, the department denied her visa twice.<\/p>\n
The woman, named Farzana (26), founded a platform to support education for Afghan women under the Taliban regime and received a scholarship to study business administration in India. She was planning to start a master\u2019s degree in international studies in Canada, but her plans are now in danger of being ruined by the visa denial.<\/p>\n
Farzana\u2019s lawyer criticized the immigration department\u2019s denial of her visa, saying, \u201cThere is no other explanation for the visa denial than her Afghan origin.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadian government has stated that it will consider visa application criteria on a case-by-case basis, but there have been continued criticisms that it is disadvantageous to refugee students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"