Demand Canada Create a Direct Pathway for the Immediate and Extended Family Members in Gaza of Palestinian Canadians to Come to Canada

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:

• Millions of civilian lives in Gaza are at imminent risk amidst a worsening humanitarian crisis, including over ten thousand killed and over twenty-five thousand injured;
• There has been a disturbing rise in anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia internationally;
• The protection of civilians is of utmost importance and recognized as critical in the Geneva Conventions, which Canada has ratified;
• Even when the current violence stops, millions of Palestinians will still be displaced and separated from their families abroad;
• Canadian citizens and permanent residents have beloved family members in Gaza;
• Under existing policy, these family members are subject to visa application requirements that are often impossible to meet due to limited working bureaucracy and infrastructure inside Gaza, and/or their inability to travel to a Canada visa office;
• Current policy only allows for children and spouses to be sponsored for permanent residency, excluding siblings, parents, and grandparents;
• Canada has demonstrated an ability to facilitate visa-less travel, at time of departure, for spouses and children from Gaza to Canada; and
• Canada has supported the travel and reunification of families in international crises before, such as the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel and permanent residence policy for Ukrainian nationals with family members in Canada, including siblings, children, parents, grandparents, and spouses; and
• The Canadian government can update its policies governing eligibility for travel and residency as it chooses.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to immediately create direct pathways for emergency travel of Palestinians to Canada and establish a policy for permanent residence for immediate and extended Palestinian family members in Canada.