Palestinian Canadians Desperate to Save Their Loved Ones from Gaza Speak Out Against Government Failures on Parliament Hill

Palestinian Canadians have renewed their calls for Canada to take concrete action to get their loved ones out of the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s unrelenting bombardment, slamming a temporary Gaza visa scheme launched earlier this year as a failure.

Omar Omar, a representative of the advocacy group Gazan Canadians, said during the press conference that he has been trying to get his relatives out of Gaza for months.

“It’s been over a year now, and I’m still asking that my family – stranded in Gaza, under the continuous threat of losing their lives at any moment – be treated with the same urgency, the same humanity, that Canada extended to others. This long fight, this exhausting advocacy, has drained our resources and everything we have. We have lost so much back in Gaza, and here in Canada, this struggle is tearing apart the lives we have tried to build.”

The Canadian government launched the Special Gaza Visa Program earlier this year to allow Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to bring extended family members from Gaza to the country.

But from the start, the families and immigration lawyers said the process was confusing and included invasive questions that went beyond what is typically required, including detailed work histories and any scars or injuries that required medical attention.

They also accused the government of imposing stricter requirements on Palestinians than on other people who have sought temporary visas in recent years, such as Ukrainians.

Canada approved more than 960,000 visas for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their country — an 81 percent approval rate — and nearly 300,000 people have arrived over a two-year span.

In contrast, the Gaza visa program was capped at 5,000 visas.

To take action to help Gazan Canadians to save their families, check out the Reunite Gazans Now Toolkit here

Watch the press conference on YouTube below: