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In mid-September 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman, at the hands of the Iranian morality police, led to countrywide protests in Iran. Amini was beaten to death simply for not following the country’s “hijab rules.” This horrific incident triggered thousands of Iranians to protest in the streets.

The protests, however, soon became violent, with reports of many protesters killed or injured. What made this crackdown different, and somewhat more horrific, were reports of hundreds of cases of eye injuries as a result of intentionally targeting this organ with shotguns that fired hundreds of small pellets capable of ripping through the eye.

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Being intimately familiar with the eye as a researcher in the area of ophthalmology, and seeing images of young girls and boys with hundreds of pellets lodged deep in and around their eyes, I was heartbroken. The eye is a small, complex organ with unique intricacies. It was evident from the images that many of these young people will probably lose their eyesight.

Several protesters with eye injuries made it out of Iran, seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. One of them was Saman, a 34-year-old Iranian who was shot at close range by a paintball gun. The projectile crushed his retina, leading to total loss of his eyesight. Seeing stories like that of Saman prompted a group of Iranian-Canadian activists and myself to take action, including bringing some of the injured to Canada.

The long, backlog of Canadian refugee applications made the formal path for asylum impractical, as many needed urgent medical care for their eye injuries. So we decided to approach Canadian immigration officials directly and ask them for humanitarian assistance.

Fortunately, while Canada has been silent in helping the victims of Iran’s Mahsa Amini movement, other European countries have filled the void.

We wrote multiple emails to federal ministers Sean Fraser (then in charge of immigration) and Mélanie Jolie, and to the Prime Minister’s Office. We implored the Canadian government to allow a handful of these victims to come to Canada on humanitarian grounds and we noted that, given their dire situation, this had to be done quickly.

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None of our letters received a reply from any of the ministers or the PMO. This was during a time when tens of thousands of Iranians had come out to the streets of Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto demanding more support from the Canadian government for the Iranian people. Given that Canada has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since the time of the Harper government, expectations were not high.

Yet, Canada is an international brand for humanitarian assistance around the world. Images of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeting new Syrian refugees in a Canadian airport have further solidified this brand. Thus, it’s puzzling why repeated pleas to bring a relatively small group of individuals — whose lives had been shattered — to a country renowned for embracing such individuals, has gone unanswered. Canada’s complacency has been in stark contrast to its positive contribution to victims of other conflicts, including victims of the Ukraine war and Afghan conflict.

Ukraine has faced utter devastation as a result of an unjust war, which has led to millions of refugees. Afghanistan has also been through many wars and many Afghani translators have helped the Canadian Armed Forces. While it is true that the situations in Ukraine and Afghanistan are dire, our request to the Canadian government to bring a handful of injured Iranian protesters here would be a project at a much smaller scale.

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Canada should be commended for its recent announcement allowing permanent residency for Ukrainians already in Canada. However, its efforts must be tailored to those in need in other countries too, perhaps packaged and delivered in a different fashion.

Fortunately, while Canada has been silent in helping the victims of Iran’s Mahsa Amini movement, other European countries have filled the void. The Italian government, though known for its anti-immigration policies, granted visas to a number of Iranian protesters in a matter of days. Many have also received medical care for their eyes in Italy. Saman is going to Germany with a three-year humanitarian visa and a new vision for the future. Canada’s brand as the world’s humanitarian powerhouse is tarnished, but other countries are shining on the world stage.

Mahyar Etminan is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia.

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