Saudi Arabia is pulling thousands of students from Canada in an escalating human rights feud

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• Saudi Arabia will withdraw all of its students studying in Canada in an intensifying feud between the two countries.
• A Saudi government source told The Globe and Mail that more than 15,000 Saudis are studying in Canada on government funded courses or grants.
• Local media also reported that the country has been instructed not to transfer its patients to Canada for medical treatment.
• The feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia has escalated quickly since it began on Friday, when Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised concerns about the Kingdom's human rights record.

Saudi Arabia will withdraw all of its students studying in Canada in an intensifying rift between the two countries over the Kingdom's human rights record.

The Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau, a wing of the country's Ministry of Education, announced on its website Monday that all training and scholarship programs in Canada will be suspended by the end of the Islamic calendar year in September. It gave no further details.

According to The Globe and Mail, citing a Saudi government source, more than 15,000 Saudis are studying in Canada on government funded courses or grants at universities, colleges, and other institutions.

Accompanying family members will also be expected to leave Canada, which could bring the number of Saudi nationals departing up to 20,000, the source added.

Financial Times reporter Ahmed Al Omran tweeted that students will be transferred to schools in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, citing Saudi state TV.

Local media also reported that the country has been instructed not to transfer its patients to Canada for medical treatment.

The feud appears to have began with a tweet

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Political activist Samar Badawi was presented with an International Women of Courage Award by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former first lady Michelle Obama in 2012.

The feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia has escalated quickly since it began on Friday, after Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised concerns about the Kingdom's human rights record following the arrests of several prominent human rights activists.

Among the arrested is Samar Badawi, an award-winning women's-rights activist who sought to abolish the country's male guardianship laws. She is also the sister of Raif Badawi, a jailed rights blogger who has gained global recognition.

Canada tweeted that it was "gravely concerned" about a new wave of arrests of women's rights activists in the Kingdom, which angered Saudi Arabia and prompted the country to retaliate with a series of diplomatic measures aimed at signaling its strength.

Within a day, Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador, froze all new investment, and canceled all flights to Toronto.

Canada responded by saying it "seriously concerned" by the escalation, but vowed to continue to "stand up for human rights in Canada and around the world."

The United Nations has sounded the alarm over what it considers a wave of "arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders," in the last few months.

It estimates that at least 15 Saudi activists have been arrested since May 15, though some estimate the actual number of unreported arrests may be higher. Saudi Arabia has claimed that the arrests targeted those who sought to "destabilize the Kingdom," and were done by following the country's legal guidelines.