Call & Write to Reunite 3 Gaza Girls with their Ottawa Mom: May 31-June 1

(Sample email/phone message below!) 

This event is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/2759715057653025

On May 31 & June 1 (or whenever you get this message), please write/call Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino to demand that he help save the lives of three Gaza girls and their father by issuing Temporary Resident Permits that would allow them to reunite with their Ottawa mom while their permanent residency applications are processed (which could take at least 2 years).

The best interests of these children and Canada’s commitment to family reunification demand immediate action on their cases. It would be unconscionable to leave them in Gaza for at least another two years after UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared, "If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza.” The impact of the recent attacks on Gaza, compounded by 15 years of living under one of the most draconian economic blockades ever imposed – described by The International Committee of the Red Cross as  "a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law” – have only confirmed the United Nations prediction, made in 2012, that by 2020 Gaza would be unliveable.

On October 5, 2020, Marco Mendicino tweeted: "Our government strongly believes in the importance of keeping families together—particularly during difficult times. Now, more than ever, family reunification is an important component of Canada’s immigration system.”

These are difficult times for anyone living in Gaza and for their loved ones abroad awaiting reunification. There is no better time to act, and no worse time to fail to act.

Below is a sample email and addresses to send it to, as well as a phone message to leave in Mendicino’s Ottawa and Toronto offices. 

Sample email

(please make sure you add in those cc-ed)

(Feel free to add in a personal statement at the beginning or end—ie, “As a parent, I cannot imagine the impossible situation this family is in” or “People’s lives should not be at risk because of politics” etc.

Subject Line: Please Issue Temporary Resident Permits to Gaza Girls Maryam (11), Kenzi (10) and Aleen (6) Qunoo and their Father 

To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca

Cc: Marc.Garneau@parl.gc.ca, Soraya.MartinezFerrada@parl.gc.ca, tasc@web.ca, Jenny.Kwan@parl.gc.ca, Chandra.Arya@parl.gc.ca, Peter.Schiefke@parl.gc.ca,  Kamal.Khera@parl.gc.ca, Yasmin.Ratansi@parl.gc.ca, Salma.Zahid@parl.gc.ca, Catrina.Tapley@cic.gc.ca, mona.fortier@parl.gc.ca, Marwan.Tabbara@parl.gc.ca, Paul.Manly@parl.gc.ca, Iqra.khalid@parl.gc.ca, Joel.Lightbound@parl.gc.ca, Ruby.Sahota@parl.gc.ca, Lenore.Zann@parl.gc.ca, Majid.Jowhari@parl.gc.ca, Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca, Pam.Damoff@parl.gc.ca

Dear Minister Mendicino,

I am one of the 23,000+ people who have signed a petition in support of Ottawa resident Jihan Qunoo's family, who need your help to escape Gaza.

I am writing to demand that you exercise your power under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and compassionate considerations) to immediately issue Temporary Resident Permits to three traumatized children – Maryam (11), Kenzi (10) and Aleen (6) Qunoo – and their father,  Mohammed, so this family can be reunited with their Ottawa mother, Jihan. As you likely know from the news, the situation in Gaza – recently subjected to a bombing campaign estimated to be twice as destructive as the devastating 2014 attacks – is incredibly unsafe. Indeed, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared recently: "If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza."

The children’s and their father’s application for temporary residence permits – with all the necessary supporting documents that illustrate the ongoing danger they continue to face if left in Gaza – was sent to your office on May 26, 2021. Their permanent residency application was submitted in October, 2020. The family has been apart for almost two full years, with devastating consequences on the children, who suffer from major depressive disorder, severe asthma, anxiety, trouble eating, inconsolable crying fits, and the ongoing and realistic fear that going outside could risk their lives in the event a bomb falls out of the sky from the drones that continually fly over their neighbourhood. 

They barely escaped the latest onslaught of violence; the building next to them was hit, and the kids’ windows were blown out. There were no bomb shelters for them to seek safety. Even before the war, electricity was scarce, schools and health care were in dreadful shape, and the water was severely polluted. Conditions are far worse than they've ever been,  and belligerent rhetoric could at any time escalate to renewed bombing.

There is nothing complicated in this request. You can issue a permit immediately. Failure to do so will have tragic consequences for this family.

On October 5, 2020, you tweeted: "Our government strongly believes in the importance of keeping families together—particularly during difficult times. Now, more than ever, family reunification is an important component of Canada’s immigration system.”

There can be no more difficult times than the ones facing anyone enduring daily life in Gaza. For the husband and children of Ottawa resident Jihan Qunoo, the only hope left is the issuance of Temporary Resident Permits that would allow them to live safely with Jihan in Canada as their permanent residency applications are finalized. 

They deserve our support, particularly during this difficult time.

Your Name
Address

++++++++

Please make two phone calls as well!

Marco Mendocino’s office (leave a message if you can): 613-992-6361, 416-781-5583

Sample phone message (please leave one if you get the answering machine—PLEASE only leave respectful messages. The latest round of attacks is upsetting for all, but negative comments or hateful rhetoric will only hurt the family)

Hi, my name is XXXXX and I'm calling from TOWN, PROVINCE. I’m calling to support three Gaza Girls and their father. The Qunoo girls –  Maryam (11), Kenzi (10) and Aleen (6) – and their father need Temporary Resident Permits immediately to escape the horrible conditions in Gaza. Please issue the permits today so they can be reunited with their mom, Jihan, in Ottawa. Everyday you delay only increases the risk they face. It’s the right thing to do. Thank you."

More information: Rural Refugee Rights Network, tasc@web.ca

Help Get This Ottawa Mom's Kids Out of Gaza and to Canada!

 

(You can sign the petition at http://chng.it/RjycwGZt )

Ottawa aid worker, mother of 3, and Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo has desperately waited 2 years to reunite with her young girls (aged 6, 10 and 11), now stuck in Gaza under constant bombardment. The Canadian government must immediately issue temporary resident permits to rescue them from the daily terror of a war zone and the long-term effects of separation from their mom, including major depressive disorder, severe asthma, anxiety, trouble eating, inconsolable crying fits, and having no one who can properly care for them (health challenges prevent both their father and grandmother from providing the care they need). Schools are closed, and e-learning is impossible with lack of internet and electricity. Jihan worries that there are no bomb shelters for the children to take cover.

Jihan is a hard-working, well-established Ottawa resident working both a full time job as well as additional part-time jobs to financially support her family in Gaza. But the stress of separation – especially now as the horror of war once again grips the area – is taking an incalculable toll, just as it would on any parent and any child. When Jihan calls her children – Aleen, Mariam, Kenzi – she can hear them crying from fear as bombs explode in the background.

Issuing the girls Temporary Resident Permits would allow them to reunite with their mother in Canada, improve their physical and mental health, and provide them the time together they need to recover from two impossibly difficult years. It would also allow them the opportunity to enjoy much-needed safety until conditions considerably improve in Gaza and their family sponsorship application is expedited and completed. 

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino has the authority and discretion under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to grant these permits. This is a unique and exceptional situation, involving serious danger to the safety of three young girls in a war zone where, even absent the current escalation of military attacks, the devastating effects of a long-term blockade mean these girls do not have access to the educational, psychological, and medical services they need to address the significant trauma afflicting them at such a tender age.

Failure to act now will cause irreparable emotional and physical harm, set the kids back in their education, and impair their ability to grow up in a healthy and safe environment.

The Government of Canada has long been obligated to act in a humanitarian and compassionate manner in such cases given  “those facts, established by the evidence, which would excite in a reasonable [person] in a civilized community a desire to relieve the misfortunes of another” Chirwa v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (1970), 4 IAC 338.

Canada is also obligated by both domestic and international commitments to act in a manner consistent with an approach “taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected.” Indeed, Article 3(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child confirms “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.” The Minister’s own guidelines point out that “factors relating to a child’s emotional, social, cultural and physical welfare should be taken into account when raised.”

Temporary Resident Permits must be issued immediately to Aleen, Mariam, Kenzi as well as to their father, Mohammed.

Thank you!

Media Coverage: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-mother-children-gaza-permanent-resident-1.6024068