The Russian Canadian Democratic Alliance (RCDA) joins Yulia Navalnaya, Ilya Yashin, and Vladimir Kara-Murza (a Canadian honorary citizen) in urging the Canadian government to offer asylum to Russian dissidents facing deportation from the United States. These individuals have openly defied Putin’s regime and, if deported to Russia, face persecution, imprisonment, and torture. Canada can and must act quickly to uphold its values of democracy and human rights by offering them protection.
Canada has known both failure and leadership in moments of refugee crisis. In 1914, the Komagata Maru, carrying South Asian passengers, was turned away in Vancouver, with most forced back to India, where they faced violence and imprisonment. In 1939, the St. Louis, carrying Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution, was denied entry, and hundreds later perished in the Holocaust.
While these moments are remembered as deep injustices, Canada has also shown the best of its values — from resettling Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s, to offering safety to Hungarians, Poles, and many others fleeing repressive and authoritarian communist regimes in the 1980s. Thousands qualifying as “East-European Self-Exiled Persons” were able to make Canada their home and build new lives, strengthening Canada’s foundation.
Today’s situation echoes the past. Russians who oppose Putin’s dictatorship and the invasion of Ukraine, and who sought refuge in the United States, are now at risk of deportation back to Russia. If forced to return, they face imprisonment, persecution, torture, and years behind bars for their political views and for defending human rights.
Canada now has the opportunity to stand by its values — democracy, human rights, and solidarity with those resisting authoritarianism. This is Canada’s moment not to repeat the mistakes of the past, but to save lives and firmly uphold the principles it stands for.
