(Ottawa) The ceiling of 1,000 temporary residence visas which had been set for the reception of Gazans with family in Canada will be raised.
Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller confirmed Monday that special measures would be available to a greater number of people.
“We will indeed increase the number of people who will be able to leave Gaza,” he said in the House of Commons in response to the question from New Democrat Jenny Kwan.
A major problem remains: the Canadian government must deal with the fact that Gazans are stuck in the enclave besieged by Israeli forces, he recalled.
PHOTO BASSAM MASOUD, REUTERS ARCHIVES
A refugee camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 11.
“This is something that is the business of other governments. We beg them to let these people out,” pleaded Minister Miller.
As soon as he unveiled the temporary reception program on December 21, he insisted on the fact that these measures were expected to evolve.
The abandonment of the limit of 1,000 people had been demanded by humanitarian groups like Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
The group denounced the asymmetry between this program and the emergency travel measures put in place to welcome Ukrainians.
At the beginning of February, 967 temporary residence visa applications were being processed.
“According to what I know, nearly 2,000 relatives in Gaza are still waiting to receive an IRCC code [Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada] to reconnect with their families in Canada,” MP Jenny Kwan said Monday.
“Clearly, the arbitrary cap of 1,000 is problematic,” she added.
Special temporary resident visa application measures apply to Palestinians who:
- live in Gaza;
- are family members of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada who lives, or intends to live, in Canada;
- will be supported in Canada by the Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada for a period of one year.