Call to Action: Canada Must Urgently Complete all Gaza Applications and Open Borders During Ceasefire

https://homesnotbombs.blogspot.com/…/family…

(Details on letter writing, phone calls, and Family Day public vigils below)

During the first several weeks of February, please take the simple actions described below to ensure we can save the lives of loved ones in the Palestinian Canadian community.

THE ISSUE
During the fragile temporary ceasefire in Gaza – one whose second phase may not come to pass, especially given the daily violations by Israeli forces that have killed over 80 Palestinians in Gaza – Canada has a rare but very brief opportunity to fix the Gaza temporary residence program.

As the much criticized Gaza program marked its 1-year anniversary January 9, some 4,700 applications had been received, but only 616 individuals had arrived in Canada. None received Canadian assistance exiting Gaza; rather, those lucky enough to escape and their Canadian sponsors exhausted life savings to pay exorbitant border crossing fees into Egypt. An estimated 3,500+ applications remain unprocessed after more than a year.

The punishingly slow pace of visa processing for Gazans – a paltry average of 2.5 applications completed per day, with a lethal waiting time for some of over a year – stands in stark contrast to the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. During CUAET’s first year, Canada welcomed 129,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and approved over half a million visas (an average of 1,370 applications per day), usually within a two-week turnaround. Canada waived security screening for those aged up to 17 and over 61, and dropped a required medical exam despite the Ukrainian population’s much higher risk of carrying tuberculosis, which Ottawa conceded “posed potential health risks to Canada.”

Similarly, Canada welcomed over 8,000 Israeli visa holders during 2024. Palestinian Canadians and refugee advocates point to such figures as clear proof of a painful, discriminatory double standard that fails to adequately respond to what Canadian officials acknowledge are “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza.

To make best use of this short ceasefire time frame, Canadian immigration officials must urgently devote the same energy they invested into the Ukraine program, complete remaining Gaza applications (which could be done over 3 business days based on the Ukraine program pace), and negotiate with the Egyptian government and the Israeli regime for the rapid exit of Canadians’ loved ones.

TAKE ACTION
Write to and Call Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Global Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to demand they take immediate urgent action to save the lives of Canadians’ loved ones still in Gaza and those languishing in Egypt.

Sample Letter (feel free to personalize this and change up the subject line as well)

Subject: Urgently Process all Gaza Visa Applications; Ensure Safe, Speedy Exits!

To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, Minister@cic.gc.ca, Melanie.Joly@parl.gc.ca, Melanie.Joly@international.gc.ca, marc.miller@parl.gc.ca

Cc: Pam.Damoff@parl.gc.ca, rob.oliphant@parl.gc.ca, Paul.Chiang@parl.gc.ca, Harpreet.Kochhar@cic.gc.ca, Scott.Harris@cic.gc.ca Salma.Zahid@parl.gc.ca, tasc@web.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca

Dear Ms Joly and Mr. Miller,

The devastation in Gaza grows more serious by the day, and the risk of renewed carpet bombing by Israeli forces continues to increase.

I am writing to you to urge that you take emergency action to immediately process all remaining Gaza visa applications and ensure that those applicants will be able to exit Gaza and make it to either Egypt or Jordan on their way to being reunited in Canada no later than Family Day, February 17, 2025. You must also immediately approve for travel the almost 1,000 loved ones of Canadians languishing in Egypt who have been waiting more than a year.

You have both expressed frustration and even admitted the Gaza visa program was a failure as early as February 2024, but have done little to fix it. As a result, hundreds of lives of those hoping to escape have been wiped out. It is clear, however, that both Canadian immigration and Global Affairs officials have the capacity to not only immediately process the remaining 3500+ applications in a very short time frame (it would take 3 days based on the pace of the Ukraine program), but also to leverage your diplomatic relationship with the Israeli regime to facilitate the exit of Canadians’ loved ones. This is a rare opportunity to act and prevent further losses in a genocide that has only been suspended temporarily, with many indications that it is set to resume.

The average number of Gaza applications processed per day – 2 to 3 – has utterly failed to meet the moment (especially when 1,370 Ukraine applications were processed daily). Other countries like Australia have been able to get the loved ones of their citizens out of Gaza without going through the obstructive Israeli border authorities.

Canada must do the same in the coming weeks before it is once again too late. As most people in Gaza return to their utterly destroyed former homes, they are seeing for the first time the complete obliteration of the lives they had before the current slaughter, one that some medical experts believe has wiped out 10% of the population, decimated the health care system, destroyed food distribution networks, and eliminated basic services like sewage treatment and water purification.

Canada must take the lives of Palestinians seriously. I join in the voices of those who are tired of your excuses blaming others for your failure to do the right thing and step up to save lives. I urge you to act now, as Palestinian Canadians and supporters have been urging you to do for the past 16 months, before it is too late.

Sadly, it is too late for those who could have survived had Canada cared enough to push for their right to live.

But it is never too late to recognize failure and fix it when lives are on the line.

Instead of writing a form letter back to me, I instead urge you to devote all staff time to addressing this crisis

Name
City/Town

Sample Phone Call
(Feel free to use your own wording, but please, do NOT leave hostile or abusive messages, as that will only hurt this effort. ALSO call your own MP as well. You may or may not get an answering machine (if you do, please leave a polite message)

Mélanie Joly (Foreign Affairs)
613-992-0983 (Ottawa office)
514-383-3709 (Montreal office)

Hi, my name is XXXXXXXX and I’m calling from XXXXXXX. I am shocked that Canada has failed the people of Gaza. I am shocked that Canada has only processed 2 applications a day when people are trying to escape a genocide and that there are still 3500 unfinished applications. During this fragile ceasefire, I am urging that you take every possible step to engage Egypt and Israel to ensure the immediate exit of the loved ones of Canadians under the Gaza temporary residence program.

Marc Miller (Immigration)
Ottawa office: 613-995-6403
Hi, my name is XXXXXXXX and I’m calling from XXXXXXX. I am shocked that Canada has failed the people of Gaza. I am shocked that Canada has only processed 2 applications a day when people are trying to escape a genocide and that there are still 3,500 unfinished applications. During this fragile ceasefire, I am urging that you assign the necessary staff to urgently finish application processing so that everyone waiting to be reunited with their loved ones in Canada is ready to leave within one week’s time. You did this for Ukrainians. You did this for Israelis. You can do it for Palestinians.

Please call Justin Trudeau at 613-992-4211 with a similar message

Vigils
Hold a Family Reunification Vigil sometime during February (including the Family Day Weekend, February 17) at a Liberal MP’s office or federal government building. Ask that those MPs put pressure on the federal government to act urgently. Bring pictures of loved ones. Need help or have questions? Contact us at tasc@web.ca

For more information contact the Rural Refugee Rights Network and the Gazan Canadians League at tasc@web.ca