A high-profile director of the Muslim Association of Britain has claimed he is a victim of “cancel culture” after he was refused entry into Canada.
Anas Al Tikriti, a British-Iraqi activist, said he had been turned away on Monday while travelling for a speaking engagement with the Muslim Association of Canada. He said officials had refused him entry on the grounds that he had “misrepresented” himself in his application and had not declared a previous visa refusal from the US in 2023.
Mr Al Tikriti disputes this account “unequivocally” and says that he disclosed the fact immediately during questioning. He believes he was refused entry because of his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I would, frankly, have had more respect for the Canadian immigration authorities had they simply said ... that they were under pressure not to admit me. That my views on Palestine were unacceptable to them. That my criticism of Israel's crimes against humanity was intolerable,” he wrote on Facebook.
The British-Iraqi campaigner is listed as a director of MAB, which operates within Muslim communities in the UK and runs campaigns.
MAB was accused of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood – a charge it has repeatedly denied – in a 2015 government report. The UK government report on the Muslim Brotherhood's presence in the country, co-authored by the senior diplomat John Jenkins, linked MAB with the Brotherhood.
“Muslim Brotherhood organisations in the UK – including charities – are connected to counterparts elsewhere in Europe,” it concluded. “Mab are associated with the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe (FIOE), established by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1989.
“FIOE subsequently created the European Council for Fatwa and Research, another pan-European Muslim Brotherhood body, intended to provide religious and social guidance to Muslims living in Europe.”
MAB was founded in the 1990s and Mr Al Tikriti served as its president from 2004 to 2005. The Muslim Brotherhood is a designated terrorist organisation in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Mr Al Tikriti was recently criticised for claiming in the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks that "the taking of hostages is a very important part of any strategic military action or active resistance” on a podcast with Imam Tom Facchine. Mab has previously sought to distance itself from those statements. A representative for Mab told The National that Canada’s immigration decision was a “serious overreach” on Thursday.
“This appears to be a serious overreach by the Canadian government, seemingly driven by bad-faith pressure from those seeking to suppress voices speaking out against Israel’s crimes and the genocide in Gaza. It raises grave concerns about freedom of speech and the targeting of those advocating for Palestinian rights.”
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said it reserved the right to ask on arrival for an examination to determine whether a traveller is allowed to enter. It said it could not comment on this case because of privacy laws.
“Inadmissibility concerns may be identified before a person travels to Canada, at the time that they seek entry to Canada, or after they are already inside Canada,” the agency said. “Generally speaking, individuals who are found to be inadmissible cannot travel to or enter Canada.”
