Palestinian Canadians condemn ‘betrayal’ of faltering Gaza visa scheme

Palestinian Canadians person renewed their calls for Canada to instrumentality factual enactment to get their loved ones retired of the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s unrelenting bombardment, slamming a impermanent Gaza visa strategy launched earlier this twelvemonth arsenic a failure.

Omar Omar, a typical of the advocacy radical Gazan Families, said connected Tuesday that helium has been trying to get his relatives retired of Gaza for months.

“It’s been implicit a twelvemonth now, and I’m inactive asking that my household – stranded successful Gaza, nether the continuous threat of losing their lives astatine immoderate infinitesimal – beryllium treated with the aforesaid urgency, the aforesaid humanity, that Canada extended to others,” helium said during a quality league successful Ottawa.

“This agelong fight, this exhausting advocacy, has drained our resources and everything we have. We person mislaid truthful overmuch backmost successful Gaza, and present successful Canada, this conflict is tearing isolated the lives we person tried to build.”

The Canadian authorities launched the peculiar Gaza visa programme earlier this twelvemonth to let Canadian citizens and imperishable residents to use to bring extended household members from Gaza to the country.

But from the start, the families and migration lawyers said the process was confusing and included invasive questions that went beyond what is typically required, including elaborate enactment histories and immoderate scars oregon injuries that required aesculapian attention.

They besides accused the authorities of imposing stricter requirements connected Palestinians than connected different radical who person sought impermanent visas successful caller years, specified arsenic Ukrainians.

Canada approved much than 960,000 visas for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s penetration of their state — an 81 percent support complaint — and astir 300,000 radical person arrived implicit a two-year span.

In contrast, the Gaza visa programme was capped astatine 5,000 visas.

Canada’s migration section told Al Jazeera past period that, arsenic of October 5, lone 733 applications from Palestinians “who exited Gaza connected their own” — without assistance from the authorities — had been approved.

By that aforesaid date, lone 334 Palestinians had arrived successful the country, the section said, without specifying wherefore the others had not yet landed successful Canada.

“When I saw Canada welcoming thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing war, I felt hopeful. I believed that the aforesaid compassion would widen to my family,” Omar said during Tuesday’s quality conference.

“But it hasn’t. The betrayal — the acold refusal — has near maine questioning if determination is immoderate bosom near successful this government, if determination is immoderate compassion near for radical similar us.”

Canada has said it cannot determine who gets to permission the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Egypt power the enclave’s southern Rafah borderline crossing, and it has been closed for months amid the Israeli military’s offensive, which has killed astatine slightest 43,972 Palestinians crossed Gaza since October 2023.

“The superior situation continues to beryllium the quality for radical to exit, arsenic question retired of Gaza remains highly hard oregon intolerable owed to assorted factors that stay extracurricular of Canada’s control,” a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told Al Jazeera successful an email successful October.

“Canada volition proceed moving intimately with section authorities — astatine each level — to facilitate the exit of extended household members and to advocator for their safety.”

But rights advocates person said the Canadian government should use much unit connected Israel to let Palestinians approved to travel to Canada nether the visa programme to permission the bombarded coastal territory.

“If this authorities was superior astir redeeming Palestinians, Israel would look superior consequences for preventing their exit from Gaza,” Alex Paterson of the advocacy radical Canadians for Justice and Peace successful the Middle East said during Tuesday’s quality conference.

Ultimately, the occurrence of the Ukrainian visa programme “shows what is possible”, said David Matsinhe, manager of research, argumentation and advocacy astatine Amnesty International Canada.

“This demonstrates precise intelligibly the government’s capableness to enactment with urgency and resoluteness during humanitarian crises,” helium told reporters successful Ottawa.

Matsinhe issued a database of demands for Canada to bolster the Gaza visa scheme, including removing the headdress connected the fig of applicants and expanding diplomatic unit connected Israel and Egypt to facilitate the exit of Palestinians.

“This delay, adjacent arsenic relentless bombardment continues, is simply a calamity and prompts a chilling question,” helium said. “Was this programme deliberately designed to fail?”