Gazan Canadians Hold 3 Day Vigil on Parliament Hill Demanding Government Save Their Families

Minister Miller made statements about the delays and failures of the Gaza special immigration measures.

Key Facts stated during the press conference are (according to CBC News):

• An undisclosed number of Palestinians have arrived in Canada since January, under "exceptional circumstances" and not through Canada's special immigration program
• No one who has applied under the special immigration program has made it to Canada yet.
• 12 program applicants have managed to get through the Rafah crossing point out of Gaza and are now in Egypt, but they did so without help from the Canadian government
• Minister Miller described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "probably the largest hostage-taking in the world"

But is he doing enough?

Over the last three days, Canadians from across the country held a vigil at Parliament Hill.

Palestinian Canadians with families stuck in Gaza repeatedly requested to meet with Miller. But Minister Miller did not grant them that meeting.

Despite passing in his car by the vigil and seeing the families desperately demanding to be reunited with their loved ones, he did not talk nor engage with any of them.

[In today's press conference] Miller said that the Israeli ambassador expressed concerns over allowing Gazans to leave during a recent meeting.

However, thousands of Gazans have been able to leave through Rafah crossing after being forced to pay large sums of money (USD 5,000 per person) to the Egyptian authorities. A process the Minister alluded to during the press conference. And those who leave through this process have to pass a security check by the Israeli occupation authorities before they're allowed to leave the Gaza Strip. So any security concerns regarding allowing Gazans to leave are nothing but feeble excuses.

Over the past four months, countries like the US, Australia, and Turkey, and many others have been able to evacuate extended family members from Gaza. So what is the Canadian government not doing?

[As Gazan Canadians] Our mission is not over until our families are safe here with us in Canada. Our presence at Parliament Hill was a strong statement, it made our voices more heard, and it asserted our persistence on equality to Palestinian Canadians and our commitment to advocating for our families and the rights of the Palestinian people.

However, we need to continue our fight for equality and justice, so keep the momentum going and keep pressuring your representatives to advocate for the immediate evacuation of the families of Palestinian Canadians.

Contact your federal government representative to demand the immediate evacuation of our families

To keep up to date with Gazan Canadian, follow them on Instagram here and Twitter here