Policy Brief No. 228 — March 2026
Transnational Repression in an Age of Upheaval: Global Policy Challenges for Canada Emile Dirks, Shaila Baran, Emma Dickinson and Andre Fajardo
Key Points → Transnational repression is a growing global human rights problem with significant implications for the security and well-being of diaspora members in Canada. → Powerful authoritarian states and new tools of surveillance are making transnational repression worse. → The Canadian government’s ability to respond to transnational repression is challenged by three factors: Ottawa’s pursuit of warmer ties with autocracies; Ottawa’s uncritical embrace of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation; and the United States’ descent into authoritarian rule. → To help protect those at risk of transnational repression, Ottawa can implement domestic and foreign policies that reflect a strong commitment to human rights.
Introduction Authoritarian regimes are threatening overseas activists and exiles through harassment and violence. This is known as transnational repression: when states reach beyond their borders to intimidate and silence diaspora members. Its targets are those who speak out against autocratic leaders, or ethnic or religious minorities fleeing persecution. Perpetrating states have harassed, assaulted and even killed their critics; joined with other states to kidnap political exiles; and weaponized digital technologies to surveil people on- and offline. At its core, transnational repression is an attack on human rights. In the words of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, transnational repression “[is an] insidious practice [used] to intimidate, threaten, silence, detain, forcibly disappear and even kill opponents and critics. It sends a clear message that no place is safe, and leaves people living in a constant state of fear” (Office of