Over 200 medical students from Saudi Arabia who study and work at the McGill University Health Centre have been ordered to leave Canada in the next few weeks, meaning patient care could be severely affected.
The 225 postgraduate residents and fellows will have to leave the country by Sept. 1.
McGill officials are in contact with Ottawa in hopes that this situation can be resolved.
They're also preparing for the likelihood that 20 percent of its medical residents will soon be leaving the hospital, and are analyzing how patient care will be affected.
Roughly 800 residents are affected across Canada.
The diplomatic spat started on Aug. 2, when Canada's foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted about imprisoned journalist Raif Badawi.
Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi’s sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi.
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) August 2, 2018
His sister, Samar, was jailed by the Saudi regime on July 30.
