Canada announces a five-fold increase in the number of visas for Palestinians in Gaza
Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Mark Miller, decided to increase the number of applications processed within the program’s framework to reunite Palestinians with their Canadian relatives from 1,000 to 5,000.
This step came in conjunction with Miller testifying before a parliamentary committee about the measures that were taken months ago to transfer people stranded in conflict zones in the Gaza Strip and Sudan to safety in Canada, where they have relatives.
The Gaza Strip program includes temporary residence visas, while the Sudan program is for permanent residence.
When he launched the program related to the Gaza Strip early this year, Miller set a ceiling of 1,000 applications that could be “accepted for processing.” Miller is currently working to increase this ceiling fivefold. Each request may include several members of one family.
However, the program has been widely criticized for its ineffectiveness.
Canadians of Palestinian origin complained of inconsistent messages and burdensome demands that prevented their relatives from leaving the Gaza Strip before Israel closed the Rafah crossing, the only crossing gateway from the Palestinian Strip to Egypt.
As for Sudan, the civil war broke out in the spring of last year. Still, Canadians waiting for the arrival of their relatives from this Arab-African country say that the Canadian authorities do not expect them to arrive in Canada before the end of this year, pointing to a delay in taking fingerprints and other biometric requirements.
Miller testified this afternoon before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration of the House of Commons to update MPs on the progress of matters in the two programmes.
The Department of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship says that as of April 29, it had granted 179 temporary resident visas under the Gaza Strip program. Still, it is yet to be determined whether these people have arrived in Canada.
Miller explained today in a press release that Canada continues to provide the Israeli and Egyptian authorities with the names of “people who have completed an initial screening” to ensure their exit from the Gaza Strip, even if they are not currently able to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“Although it is not currently possible to leave the Gaza Strip, the situation could change at any time,” Miller said. “With this increase in the maximum (of requests), we will be ready to help more people as the situation evolves. Our priority remains keeping families together.”
There are still reports of Palestinians paying thousands of dollars to enter Egypt amid uncertainty about whether they will subsequently obtain a Canadian visa. Relatives of these people in Canada say they received conflicting information from the Canadian government about whether those who paid money to cross from the Gaza Strip to Egypt could still benefit from the Canadian program.
