A Canadian couple who “couldn’t sleep” after reading about the plight of an Iranian Christian convert deported from the United States to Panama have helped to sponsor her resettlement to Canada.

According to the New York Times, Ian and Naomi Elliot, who are in their 60s, spent months searching for a way to help resettle Artemis Ghasemzadeh, but found that “everywhere we tried, the door was shut”.

Until just before Christmas last year, when Mr Elliot received an unexpected call from a charity that helps to resettle persecuted Christians to Canada, City of Refuge, which had had a cancellation and offered the place to Artemis.

The Elliots were given two days to submit the paperwork, find a church to sponsor her, and $25,000 to support her, which they secured through the help of an American lawyer who had helped Artemis’ brother to secure asylum in the States, the Times reports.

Finally, in June 2026 Artemis was granted asylum in Canada and a month later arrived in Vancouver, where the Elliots were waiting for her, with a welcome feast and banners reading “Welcome Artemis” in English and Persian.

“The first thing I thought was that I don’t have to worry about getting displaced again,” Artemis told the Times. “I can finally get my own place and not live in shelters. I want to go to university and study dental hygiene or dentistry, and then travel freely without fear.

“I’m still kind of in shock. I can’t believe I’m really here and this is not a dream. I can finally say the struggle is over.”

Last year, an American Congresswoman named a bill after Artemis, as she proposed a change to US law to prevent future deportations of asylum-seekers whose countries of origin are designated by the State Department as “severe” violators of religious freedom – such as Iran.

Meanwhile, an Iranian-American pastor and former asylum-seeker, Ara Torosian, called for “deep reform” to the immigration system, after observing that persecuted Iranian Christians like himself now have no option of arriving in the US legally.