There really is no place like home, and sometimes, folks like Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino (below, perhaps from a community theatre production???) become so immune from pain and suffering that they, like the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz, forget they have a heart. It’s our job to help him find it and help reunite these 7 separated Palestinian families in Canada.
Please call (sample message below) on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 13-14) to urge the immediate issuance of permits to the 7 war-traumatized Gaza families separated from their loved ones in Canada. Ottawa has shown it will respond if it feels public pressure (and indeed, one family was finally approved last week thanks to your pressure!). Let’s continue to do the same for those still needing to flee Gaza, which was bombed again last weekend so severely that everyone on the Gaza Strip heard the roar of the missile strikes.
On Monday and Tuesday, please POLITELY call Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino's campaign office (they are open early and work late) with the sample message below. Canada must immediately issue temporary resident permits to allow these families to leave the Gaza war zone and be reunited with their loved ones in Canada.
There really is no place like home, and sometimes, folks like Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino become so immune from pain and suffering that they, like the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz, forget they have a heart. It’s our job to help him find it.
SAMPLE CALL
1. (416) 947-8579 campaign office for Mr. Mendicino
They will likely answer the phone here. Please be respectful with these volunteers, who are very nice people. Anything negative will reflect badly on these families!!!!
Ask to speak with Mr. Mendicino and, if he is not there, ask if you can leave a message. Have a FRIENDLY chat with the worker, who may say, “This is not the right office,” to which you can reply, “Marco Mendicino is campaigning on the promise of family reunification and this is an urgent message about 7 Gaza families whose lives are at risk. This needs to be heard by him and all of his team.”
Sample message:
Hi, my name is XXX and I'm calling from XXXXXXXXX to support the 7 Palestinian refugee families in Canada who are trying to bring their kids and spouses here from Gaza while their permanent residency applications are processed. Mr. Mendicino is aware of these cases and all the file numbers are on his desk. Gaza was bombed yet again a week ago, and the conditions of daily life are desperate. The kids are traumatized, their loved ones here sick with fear. Canada has issued permits to reunite 5 refugee families from Gaza so far but the process is too slow. Some of the families are in Egypt right now but their visitor visas run out soon, which could force them back to renewed danger in Gaza. We would like to see blanket Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits issued to the other members of this modest-sized group of Palestinian refugees who are in crisis. This would be in keeping with our commitment to family reunification and also in responding to crises like we are seeing in Afghanistan. Please have a heart and act before it is too late.”
You can ALSO leave the same message at Marco Mendicino’s office: 416-781-5583
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:
1. Sign and share this petition: https://www.change.org/p/allow-war-traumatized-kids-from-gaza-to-live-with-parents-in-canada
2. Call and Write to the Immigration Minister.
Sample email (feel free to personalize—why is this important to you?)
To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca, Minister@cic.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 Marco Mendicino,
Gaza was bombed again last week in some of the same neighbourhoods where the loved ones of 7 in-Canada Palestinian refugees live. The explosions were so loud they were heard across the Gaza Strip.
I am writing today in support of these 7 separated Gaza refugee families in Canada who urgently need immediate Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits. Similar permits have already been granted to five separated Palestinian families. All the applications are on your desk and in the overseas visa post. These need to be processed on an urgent basis.
Better yet, issue blanket permits to these families now and process their TRP applications while they are safely reunited in Canada.
These families have not seen their loved ones for 2 to 3 years, and may not see them for another 39 months. This is unacceptable in the midst of a humanitarian crisis where the lethal threat of military violence continues to hang over their heads.
The best interests of affected children and Canada’s commitment to family reunification demand urgent action on these cases. It would be unconscionable to leave them in Gaza for at least another three years (the average processing time for permanent reside applications) after UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared, "If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza.”
You have shown the willingness to expedite permits when the crisis is ever-present, as in Afghanistan. The same threat to the lives of families is ever-present in Gaza.
In the summer of 2018, Canada issued a Temporary Resident Permit to a B.C. refugee teenager so he could play baseball. In early June, 2021, Canada granted Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits to the Gaza-based husband and children of Ottawa Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo, who fled Gaza in 2019. They received those permits 13 days after applying. Four other Palestinian refugees in Canada will soon be reunited with their families because their permits have also been approved.
I am joining many others in calling on you to do the same for the remaining 7 Gaza families, whose circumstances enduring a humanitarian crisis match the conditions that gave rise to Qunoo’s happy family reunion.
Time is short, tensions are high, and misery is growing. I look forward to positive news that you will issue blanket Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits to the children and spouses of in-Canada Palestinian refugees. Please act before it is too late. As one father told CBC after the mid-June escalation of violence, "This time, a friend or a neighbour gets killed. Next time, will it be my child?”
NAME
CITY, Province
3. You can also contribute to the costs of getting these families back together again through the Rural Refugee Rights Network’s Family Reunification Fund with etransfers to tasc@web.ca or cheques to Homes not Bombs, mailed to 2583 Carling Ave., Unit M052, Ottawa, ON K2B 7H7
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