More than 40 civil-society organizations have signed on to a powerful open letter to the Canadian government calling for urgent changes to the Temporary Residence Visa for Gazans with extended family in Canada.
The full text of the letter below, followed by the list of current signatories. The list will be updated as more organizations sign on to the letter.
To: Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Miller, Minister Joly, Deputy Minister Kochhar, and Deputy Minister Morrison:
We, the undersigned organizations, movements, and collectives across Canada, demand that our government exercise its moral duty and act on its public commitments to support Palestinians fleeing Israel’s relentless military campaign in the occupied Gaza Strip.
In December 2023, almost 3 months after the start of Israel’s assault and siege on over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced the launch of a Temporary Residence Visa Program for Gazans with Canadian Family Ties, “Crisis in Gaza: Special measures for extended family”; 10 months later, it is unclear whether the program has facilitated the exit of any Palestinians from Gaza.
The Canadian government has the capacity and ability to expedite approvals and immediate exits of Palestinians from Gaza. We know this because, in 2022, the Government of Canada launched the Canadian-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) to help Ukranians fleeing the Russian invasion find safety in Canada. Over two years, more than 900,000 applications were approved through this program, approximately 80% of the 1.1 million received; in all, nearly 300,000 people arrived in Canada thanks to the CUAET program.
The Government appears to be choosing to abandon Palestinians in Gaza, including Canadians who have Palestinian families. The Special Measures program requires applicants to have a passport to apply, something difficult to obtain given the wanton destruction and near eradication of the civil infrastructure in Gaza, including civil registries. The program also requires applicants to travel to Egypt to receive biometrics, despite the fact that both travel within Gaza and exit opportunities are incredibly dangerous and prohibitively expensive. Palestinians who have spent every cent they have to survive, who have crowdfunded tens of thousands of dollars to flee to Egypt, are now further expected to cover the significant cost of obtaining biometrics and travel documents.
Anti-Arab, and specifically anti-Palestinian racism, saturates every aspect of the Special Measures program: Palestinians are denied access to financial or other forms of government support. They are required to submit to invasive and retraumatizing questions as part of intense security checks. After all that, Egyptian and/or Israeli approval is needed before they can travel to Canada. While Canada does not directly control whether someone can exit Gaza, it can help to facilitate such exits through diplomatic pressure and it has chosen not to do so.
The Special Measures program has been designed to fail. As of September 13th, Canada has received nearly 9,000 applications through the program, yet only submitted a list of 500 names from those applications to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
The situation is desperate. In July 2024, a study in The Lancet estimated that 186,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza alone since October 7th, either from direct military action or from starvation, malnutrition, disease, exposure, and lack of access to medical facilities or supplies. Those who successfully fled to Egypt, struggle to access essential services such as healthcare and education; their Palestinian documents make them ineligible for most jobs, to open bank accounts, or to travel. National and international support is minimal, and while community aid is striving to fill the gap, many live hand-to-mouth with no idea what their future will hold. Based on the number of applications to the Special Measures program, nearly 9000 people are trapped in limbo, awaiting a decision; given their difficulty in accessing shelter, jobs, housing, and healthcare, we can only imagine how many lives have been lost due to Canada’s institutional anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian racism.
Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan for 2024-2026 seeks to support family reunification and respond to humanitarian crises. In furtherance of these laudable goals, Canada has created humanitarian pathways for civilians fleeing conflict, including Gazans. Now, we’re asking that Canada act without delay to ensure that Gazans can actually arrive safely in Canada.
As Canadian organizations and initiatives, and as concerned citizens, we call on the government to take the following urgent steps:
- The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada must immediately reform the following systemic barriers in Canada’s Special Measures program as identified by the Canadian families of Palestinians trying to flee Gaza:
- Provide an option to waive biometric requirements or increase support options for applicants seeking biometrics;
- Be prepared to issue single-entry documents to those who meet all requirements but lack travel documents due to the destruction of civil infrastructure;
- Offer exemption from a medical exam until 90 days after arriving in Canada;
- Lift the cap on accepted entrants completely;
- Through increased diplomatic pressure on Israel and Egypt, help to facilitate the exit of Palestinians from the respective countries;
- Reduce the disproportionate burden of the Special Measures program security vetting process, specifically the sharing of social media and contact information.
- The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Global Affairs Canada must explore alternative exit opportunities and immediate evacuation support options for the Palestinians currently on the Special Measures program list.
- The Minister of Immigration must offer an immediate Permanent Resident pathway for Palestinians with family in Canada.
- The IRCC must provide immediate settlement services, including facilitation for housing, employment, and integration, as well as eligibility for comprehensive provincial/territorial health coverage during their stay in Canada. While welcome, the financial assistance measures announced on October 16 are inadequate.
It is our responsibility as a nation to uphold our moral obligations to Palestinians fleeing conflict in the occupied Gaza Strip. On September 17, 2024, Minister Miller said in a statement regarding Canada’s migration pathways that “we remain committed to our long-standing humanitarian tradition of helping the world’s most vulnerable people.” If that sentiment remains true, it is time for the Canadian government to demonstrate it through effective and equitable measures.
Signed,
Amnesty International Canada (English-Speaking Section)
Ansari Immigration Law
Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians
Bosnian Islamic Centre of Hamilton
Canadian Council for Refugees
Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council
Canadian Palestinian Social Association
Canadian Sufi Cultural Centre
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Canadian Women Peace and Security Network (WPSN)
Canadians Against Oppression And Persecution (CAOP)
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
Citizens for Public Justice
Gazan Canadians
Films4Falasteen
Human Concern International
Independent Jewish Voice Canada
Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Vancouver
John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
Justice For All Canada
KAIROS Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Law Office of Randall K. Cohn
Mississauga Streetsville 4 Palestine
Neighbours for Palestine: Waterloo Region
Olive Branch
Ontario Palestinian Rights Association
Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization (OMWO)
Palestine House
Palestinian Canadian Congress
Palestinian Cultural Arts Collective
Parkdale High Park for Palestine, Toronto
People for Peace, London
Righting Relations Canada
Romero House
Scarborough 4 Palestine
Seeds: Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Social Rights Advocacy Centre
St James Town Cooperative
Sustainable Human Empowerment (SHE) Associates
Tawaw Outreach Collective
The Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank
United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel (UNJPPI)
Womens International League for Peace and Freedom Canada
