<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;">MONTREAL:&nbsp;After accepting a job near Montreal, Mansef Aloui packed up his life in Tunisia, hopeful his children would thrive in Canada -- but his pathway to settle in the country has been shut down.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m broken. My life has been upended. My daughter is in her room, she cries day and night,&quot; the 50-year-old told AFP, his voice faltering over an impending departure from a country where he had hoped to stay.&nbsp;For decades, Canada was viewed as one of the world&#39;s most coveted destinations for immigrants, especially among people from the developing world.&nbsp;Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney has tightened immigration levels, echoing moves by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, who conceded last year that Canada had let in too many people to address labor shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;Carney&#39;s budget, narrowly approved last month, said: &quot;We are taking back control of our immigration system and putting Canada on a trajectory to bring immigration back to sustainable levels.&quot;&nbsp;Aloui was hired two years ago to be a supervisor at a factory in Laval, near Montreal, in Canada&#39;s French-speaking Quebec province.&nbsp;A program for skilled workers that would have allowed him to apply for permanent residency, known by its French acronym PEQ, was scrapped by the provincial government last month.&nbsp;&quot;Everything is blurry for me,&quot; Aloui said, a month before the expiration of his legal rights to remain in Canada.&nbsp;Canadian values&nbsp;Canada plans to authorize 380,000 new permanent residents in 2026, down from the 395,000 approved this year and a substantial decrease from the half-million people given rights to settle in 2024.&nbsp;Temporary resident permits are set to be trimmed nearly by half, with the 2026 target set at 385,000, compared to 673,650 this year, as the government massively curbs foreign student visa slots.&nbsp;The national statistics agency reported Wednesday that Canada&#39;s population declined by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2025 -- currently standing at 41,575,585 -- the first contraction since 2020, and caused primarily by foreign student departures.&nbsp;For Gauri Sreenivasan, co-executive director at the Canadian Council of Refugees, &quot;there has been no fundamental shift in Canadian values&quot; broadly supportive of immigration.&nbsp;But she accused Canadian politicians of exploiting &quot;a global current&quot; surrounding immigration, where newcomers are blamed for a range of challenges, including housing shortages and overstretched healthcare systems.&nbsp;&quot;Canada&#39;s population is declining and immigration is essential to our future prosperity,&quot; she said, warning against the use of &quot;toxic and xenophobic narratives&quot; that can harden attitudes against newcomers.&nbsp;Data also points towards shifting public sentiment.&nbsp;In 2022, 27 percent of Canadians believed the country was accepting too many migrants, a figure that has risen to 56 percent, according to the Environics Institute.&nbsp;The consensus has frayed Sergio da Silva told AFP he feels &quot;betrayed&quot; by the cancellation of Quebec&#39;s PEQ program.&nbsp;&quot;We studied, we speak French. We meet all the conditions to stay,&quot; said the 36-year-old Brazilian, who is also set to lose his Canadian residency rights.&nbsp;University of Montreal immigration expert Catherine Xardez said Canada had established a uniquely pro-immigration consensus, with cross-party support for welcoming people and bureaucratic processes that allowed migrants to stay.&nbsp;&quot;Canadian exceptionalism in immigration has been shaken,&quot; she told AFP. &quot;The consensus has frayed, that&#39;s obvious.&quot;&nbsp;She said a central challenge is that Canada&#39;s system was built to accommodate candidates for permanent residency.&nbsp;But the influx of temporary immigrants, especially hundreds of thousands of foreign students, has caused friction in multiple communities.&nbsp;Xardez said the situation in Canada was &quot;in no way comparable&quot; to developments in Europe or the United States, where politicians have achieved electoral successes fueled in large part by anti-immigration messaging.

Americas

Canada's immigration system is shifting as the government reduces immigration targets and cancels key programs like Quebec's PEQ. While some Canadians express concerns about housing and labor shortages, experts warn against rising anti-immigrant sentiment.

Migrants forced to leave Canada after policy change feel 'betrayed'

Web Desk

<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;" id="isPasted"><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Drone hits flotilla boat again</li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">CCTV shows crew shouting &ldquo;fire&rdquo;</li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Blaze contained, mission continues</li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tunisia calls attack &ldquo;premeditated&rdquo;</li><li style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Investigation launched, details pending</li></ul><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Global Sumud Flotilla said a drone struck one of its boats at a Tunisian port late Wednesday. It was the second attack in two nights. No injuries were reported.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Security video from the British-flagged &lsquo;Alma&rsquo; showed people on deck shouting &ldquo;fire.&rdquo; Burning projectiles landed and exploded.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&ldquo;A drone came and dropped another incendiary device,&rdquo; Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist and flotilla spokesperson, told Al Jazeera. He added the blaze was contained and the mission would continue, Al Jazeera reported.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tunisia&rsquo;s Interior Ministry called the incident a &ldquo;premeditated act.&rdquo; It said an investigation was underway. Officials gave no further details as reported by Al Jazeera.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The reported strike was similar to one the night before on the Portuguese-flagged &lsquo;Family&rsquo; vessel, according to the flotilla.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Greta Thunberg returns<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The &lsquo;Alma&rsquo; and the &lsquo;Family&rsquo; serve as motherships. They carry supplies and prominent participants, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The flotilla has 20 boats carrying aid and plans to add more vessels in Tunis before sailing to Gaza to challenge Israel&rsquo;s naval blockade.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tunisian coastal police were seen alongside the flotilla off Sidi Bou Said on Wednesday where crowds gathered at the port to show support. Local authorities said departure was delayed because of the weather.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The group said drones were not visible in the video but audio captured a buzzing sound consistent with unmanned aircraft. Activists also posted a photo of a charred object they said had fallen on the Alma.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Reuters was not immediately able to verify the video.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Some activists linked the incidents to intensified fighting in Gaza and accused Israel of sabotage. Israel did not respond to the accusations as reported by Al Jazeera.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Israeli officials have previously dismissed flotillas as publicity efforts and say the blockade, in place since 2007, is intended to prevent smuggling, particularly of weapons.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Mediterranean is heavily surveilled by manned and unmanned aircraft, but specialists say small commercial drones adapted for incendiary payloads could carry out attacks of the type described.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In May, another activist vessel reported a drone strike in international waters off Malta.<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In Israel, Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has proposed classifying flotilla members as security prisoners if intercepted at sea, a move observers view as unlikely to pass.&nbsp;<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">If stopped, participants would likely be deported within days, as in earlier cases, rights groups and officials told Al Jazeera.

Africa

Global Sumud Flotilla reports a second drone attack on its British-flagged ship Alma in Tunisia; no injuries reported, investigation underway, mission to Gaza continues.

Articles tagged with "Tunisia"

Migrants forced to leave Canada after policy change feel 'betrayed'

Global Sumud Flotilla reports second drone attack in Tunisia