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Saudi Arabia has drawn “a new red line” with its harsh retaliation against Canada’s criticism of its human rights record, but those who will suffer the most are the kingdom’s own students in Canadian colleges and universities, says an expert on international affairs.

“Thousands of students (being withdrawn), that’s a strong signal,” said Roland Paris, a professor of International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and a former adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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“The greatest impact will unfortunately be on the lives of students whose studies will be disrupted.”

The Saudis expelled Canada’s ambassador, cancelled direct flights between the two countries and recalled some 16,000 Saudi students studying at Canadian universities and colleges, all in a response to a Friday morning tweet from Global Affairs Canada calling for the release of Samar Badawi, sister of dissident Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose wife is a Canadian living in Sherbrooke, Que.