Ottawa offers 3-year visas to those in Gaza with Canadian relatives
Dec. 21 (UPI) -- People in Gaza with Canadian relatives will be able to apply for temporary residency, Ottawa announced Thursday, as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave amid Israel's offensive reaches nearly 20,000 with the vast majority of those who live there having been displaced.
Ottawa will work with its partners in the region to help those eligible to leave Gaza but cannot guarantee safe passage since it has no control over the number of people who can exit the besieged enclave through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, immigration Marc Miller of Canada said Thursday during a press conference unveiling the measure.
"We understand that many are concerned about the safety of loved ones in Gaza. It is unlivable," Miller said.
"And as such, we will be supporting temporary residence for extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Gaza so they can come to Canada and be reunited with their family members residing here."
Ottawa will also prioritize the processing of all existing and new permanent residence applications for Palestinians with family connections to Canada, he said.
"To be clear, today is about providing a humanitarian pathway to safety and recognizing the importance of keeping families together, given the ongoing devastation," he said.
He told reporters that he expects the program will be up and running by Jan. 9, and that those eligible will be granted three-year temporary resident visas.
Eligible family members include the spouse, common-law partner, child, regardless of age, sibling, parent or grandparent of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who must be currently residing in Canada, the federal immigration office said in a release.
Other measures unveiled Thursday include fee-exempt study or open work permits for family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have left Israel and the Palestinian territories since the conflict began in October, as well as those already in Canada who feel unsafe returning to the region at this time, said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The conflict began Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel that claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis and an estimated 240 more taken hostage.
Israel has responded with a brutal air and ground offensive that has killed at least 20,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Palestine Ministry of Health, and has displaced 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.2 million residents, according to stats from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled the immigration measures Thursday as it comes under increasing pressure from Palestinian-Canadian families and the New Democratic Party, which said Thursday it welcomes this "long overdue announcement."
"Families have been waiting for this day for too long," NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said in a statement. " Reuniting families with their loved ones in Canada is the right thing to do."
During a separate press conference held Thursday, Ahmad Al-Qadi, an advocacy officer with the National Council of Canadian Muslims -- which has been working to evacuate Canadians from Gaza -- similarly thanked Ottawa for developing these measures while stating he recognizes that for some "it's been a very late announcement."
"Many Canadians have been praying that no more of their family members are murdered or slaughtered in the carnage that has gripped a civilian population for over two months, and many Canadians have lost their family members while waiting," he said.
"While we continue to work with the government, we also want to make it clear here today as we have said before publicly that the status quo solution is not acceptable. the conditions flee are intolerable and there must be a solution to end the violence that is taking the lives of so many innocent civilians, including Canadians."
