In the morning of August 31, Egyptian journalist Hossam el-Hamalawy received an email from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), informing him that it had made a “u-turn” and reversed its decision to deny him entry to Canada.
The reversal came in response to a coordinated solidarity campaign that successfully pressured IRCC, Canada’s department of immigration, to change course.
Almost two weeks earlier, on August 18, IRCC rejected el-Hamalawy’s application for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), which is required for German citizens to visit Canada. An Egyptian exile and refugee, el-Hamalawy resides in Berlin and has German citizenship. His eTA application was to attend two public speaking engagements in September at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.
IRCC initially rejected el-Hamalawy’s eTA application after requesting three times that he provide official documents from the Egyptian government that corroborate his experience of detention and torture under the regime.
El-Hamalawy explained that, as a political refugee fleeing torture, he would not be safe approaching the Egyptian government for documents of any kind. Egypt continues to deny its practice of indefinite “pretrial detention” and torture, in the face of overwhelming evidence and documentation by international human rights organizations.
However, this was not enough for the IRCC, despite the fact that the Canadian government has long been aware of cases like el-Hamalawy’s and has issued numerous official statements over the years (see here, here, here, here, here, and here).
In response to the decision, a pan-Canadian solidarity campaign emerged that quickly gained an international reach. Event organizers at Simon Fraser University were in touch with NDP Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East), who wrote to Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Lena Metlege Diab.
In Toronto, the Executive Director of REDWORD.ca, Mostafa Al-A’sar, prepared an open letter to Minister Diab signed by prominent labour leaders, journalists, and human rights activists, including Mostafa Fouad, Executive Director of HuMENA for Human Rights; Ehab Lotayef, founding member of Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy; Judy Rebick, feminist and journalist; and Sid Ryan, former President of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
Other activists launched an email campaign, which encouraged supporters to send letters to Minister Diab and her Parliamentary Secretary, Liberal Member of Parliament Peter Fragiskatos (London Centre), as well as their own Members of Parliament. Letters were sent from across Canada, including Halifax, Nova Scotia (Diab’s home riding) and London, Ontario (Fragiskatos’s home riding). Activists in the United States, Britain, and Europe also shared the email appeal.
In addition to the appeal, activists organized two emergency phone actions, which delivered over 200 voicemail messages to Diab, Fragiskatos, and dozens of Members of Parliament.
Finally, on August 31, Jenny Kwan shared her own open letter to the Minister, which echoed all the demands of the solidarity campaign.
El-Hamalawy’s case attracted a lot of attention online, in large part due to his international profile as a respected and principled journalist, author, and fighter for justice. Many of his readers and social media followers rapidly spread the campaign on social media, and joined the solidarity actions.
Just minutes after learning of IRCC’s reversal, el-Hamalawy sent a message of support to the campaign:
I’m deeply grateful for the support and solidarity from everyone across Canada who took action on my case. It also makes me wonder how many others get chewed up by the bureaucratic machine, but don’t have a campaign to support them, like I did. I hope this is the beginning of more transparency in how these entry procedures work.
At the end of the day, as a socialist, I don’t believe in borders. Freedom of movement for everyone should be sacred.
The lesson learned here is that pressure works. If you’re facing a grievance, don’t be silent about it. Good things can happen if you’re willing to take up the struggle for justice.
Thank you again to everyone! I look forward to seeing you in Canada.
Before IRCC reversed its decision, event organizers announced that they would be making the events hybrid, so el-Hamalawy could participate by Zoom, along with supporters from around the world. It is expected that the events will remain hybrid, despite el-Hamalawy’s in-person attendance.
Click on the links below to register for each event.
Three Authors Discuss Egypt’s Security State, Media, and Judiciary
Tuesday, September 22 at 3:30 pm PT (Vancouver) / 6:30 pm ET (Toronto)
Register here for the Zoom link.
The Afterlife of Egypt’s Second Republic: Security, Media, and Judicial Futures
Thursday, September 24 at 11:00 am PT (Vancouver) / 2:00 pm ET (Toronto)
Register here for the Zoom link.
Read “Understanding the counter-revolution in Egypt” by Valerie Lannon, Spring’s review of Hossam el-Hamalawy’s Counter-revolution in Egypt: Sisi’s new republic (Verso 2026).
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