Urgent Action for Gaza Moms: Canada Must Urgently Evacuate Doaa, Nariman and Nariman's children

Please take 2 minutes to email and call (samples below) to reunite two Gazan families that Canada forcibly separated at their evacuation point 2 months ago. The Canadian government is telling mothers: if you want your kids to live, you must stay behind, using the rationale that they have not completed a visa application step that Canada’s own website says they do not have to fulfill until AFTER they leave Gaza. We’ve all seen the horrific images continuing to emerge since then. The children see them too and wonder if they will ever see their moms again. With your help, they will. 

How you can help:

Write a letter:

Please cut and paste the letter below (and edit as you see fit to personalize the letter and subject matter, and add your MP’s email in the CC section)  

For Subject Line:  Urgently Evacuate Doaa Nashwan, Nariman Abu Amra and all eligible to come to Canada from Gaza

To: gary.anand@parl.gc.ca, lenametlege.diab@parl.gc.ca, Anita.Anand@parl.gc.ca

CC: Mark.carney@parl.gc.ca, ziad.aboultaif@parl.gc.ca, David.angell@pco-bcp.gc.ca, Nisara.Jiwani@pco-bcp.gc.ca, ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca, tasc@web.ca, IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, Minister@cic.gc.ca, Scott.Harris@cic.gc.ca, Harpreet.Kochhar@cic.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, Tricia.Geddes@ps-sp.gc.ca, minister@ps-sp.gc.ca, Daniel.Mills@ps-sp.gc.ca, Salma.Zahid@parl.gc.ca, Jenna.Sudds@parl.gc.ca, Iqra.Khalid@parl.gc.ca, nathaniel.erskine-smith@parl.gc.ca

Dear Ministers Diab, Anand, and Anandasangaree,

Canada must stop playing Russian Roulette with the lives of Palestinians eligible to come to Canada and immediately evacuate Doaa Nashwan, Nariman Abu Amra (and her three children, Mohammed, Manar, and Ahmed), as well as other families who have been cruelly separated as Israeli imposed bombs and starvation face them down in Gaza.  

These two families were forcibly separated at the Kerem Shalom evacuation point in early April because of a heartless paperwork technicality that violates Canada’s own Gaza Temporary Residence Visa program. As you know, that program does NOT require that biometrics (fingerprints and photo) be completed as a condition of leaving Gaza to come to Canada. It even says so on the program website. And yet this excuse that Canada is now using to not submit their names for evacuation – lack of biometrics – means that they had the impossible Sophie’s Choice of having to make last minute decisions about who will live and who will face further risk of immediate or slightly longer death under conditions the International Court of Justice has called a plausible case of genocide. Countless other families face the same impossible choice.

Canada is condemning to death people like Doaa, Nariman, and Mohammed, Manar and Ahmed, who are unable to provide what the government has already acknowledged since day one was something they could not provide from within Gaza. When Canada keeps moving the goalposts, what are families seeking to escape a genocide to do?  

I am calling on you to immediately place these names on the evacuation lists and ensure they are reunited with their loved ones in Canada as soon as possible. 

In addition, Canada must end its lethally slow pace for processing Palestinian applications. This means immediate processing of all remaining 3,500 Visa applications using Ukraine program-level screening turnarounds of 14 days, not 14+ months as we are seeing in the Gaza program. 

In the first year of the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel  program, Canada processed 1,400 applications a day and welcomed 130,000 people. In the Gaza program, they have only done 2 applications per day, and hundreds have been killed waiting for approval as fewer than 1,000 have made it here. During that same time period, Canada approved over 8,000 visas for Israeli citizens. 

Canada must also immediately finalize Gaza program applications for those stranded in Egypt. Up to 1,000 people have been languishing without status in Cairo for more than 16 months. This is not the kind of pace that should apply to an emergency measures program.

Canada must issue specific instructions to end the racist harassment Canadian Border Services Agency officers are inflicting on traumatized genocide survivors when they do get here. Critically, Canada must work with the provinces to end the confusion it has created with its patchwork program so that everyone arriving can work, go to school, and receive health care.

Canada has a history of such life-threatening discriminatory behaviour during a holocaust. A shameful chapter of our history is called None is Too Many, when Jews were denied entry for many of the same xenophobic reasons that Palestinians face today. 

As one of over 10,000 people who’ve signed a petition in support of these families, I call on you to immediately reunite these families and devote the resources needed to immediately process all remaining applications and evacuate everyone with loved ones in Canada. 

Thank you

NAME

CITY/TOWN

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

CALL INSTRUCTIONS: 

Minister of Immigration Lena Metlege Diab: 613-996-3085

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand: 613-995-4014

Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree: 613-992-1351

 

Please call using this text as a guideline and leave a message if you do not speak directly with a person. PLEASE be polite, as any negative interactions will harm the families. If they say this is the wrong office, politely tell them this IS the office where feedback needs to be heard and ask them to pass it on.

Hi, my name is XXX and I’m calling from XXX. Like many people I am incredibly upset about the horrors being inflicted on the Palestinian people and the failure of Canada to help people from Gaza escape. I object to Canada’s forcible separation of families at the evacuation point. Specifically, I am calling on you to immediately approve for exit mothers Doaa Nashwan as well as Nariman Abu Amra and her three children. Too many people have been killed waiting for their Canadian visas to be processed. You need to ensure that this program meets the same 14-day visa application turnaround as the Ukraine program. It’s an emergency program and needs to be operated on an urgent, emergency basis. Thank you. 

Canada Must Urgently Process Gaza Visa Applications During Ceasefire Window

By Matthew Behrens

 As a fragile temporary ceasefire takes hold in Gaza – one whose second phase may not come to pass, given the governing Israeli coalition’s reliance on members opposed to the deal – Canada has a rare but very brief opportunity to belatedly fix its modest Gaza temporary residence program, one that Immigration Minister Marc Miller had already concluded was a failure six weeks after its launch.

As the much criticized Gaza program marked its 1-year anniversary January 9, some 4,700 applications had been received, but only 616 individuals had arrived in Canada. None received Canadian assistance exiting Gaza; rather, those lucky enough to escape and their Canadian sponsors exhausted life savings to pay exorbitant border crossing fees into Egypt. An estimated 3,500+ applications remain unprocessed.

 The punishingly slow pace of visa processing for Gazans – a paltry average of 2.5 applications completed per day, with a lethal waiting time for some of over a year – stands in stark contrast to the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. During CUAET’s first year, Canada welcomed 129,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and approved over half a million visas (an average of 1,370 applications per day), usually within a two-week turnaround. Canada waived security screening for those aged up to 17 and over 61, and dropped a required medical exam despite the Ukrainian population’s much higher risk of carrying tuberculosis, which Ottawa conceded “posed potential health risks to Canada.”  

Similarly, Canada welcomed over 8,000 Israeli visa holders during 2024. Palestinian Canadians and refugee advocates point to such figures as clear proof of a painful, discriminatory double standard that fails to adequately respond to what Canadian officials acknowledge are “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza.

 While some 600 individuals still in Gaza were pre-approved last year for Canadian visas contingent on completing final biometric security screening in Egypt, they  remained in limbo as their names gathered dust on a list at the Israeli Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which has thus far failed to issue exit permits. Advocates were informed last week that the Canadian list is now considered outdated, and all names will have to be submitted anew, a further delay that exposes applicants to the ongoing threats of disease, death from exposure, and malnutrition that will only worsen if the ceasefire ends.  

While other governments – notably Australia – were able to facilitate the exit of thousands of Palestinians until the May closing of the Rafah border crossing, Miller glumly waved the white flag, claiming there was nothing Canada could do. Even if that were the case, it failed to explain why upwards of 1,000 Canadian visa applicants have been stranded for close to a year in Cairo, with no access to employment, education, medical care, or income supports.  

The Gaza immigration program has been controversial since its launch, from racial profiling questions to a ridiculously low cap. Palestinian community members have felt unwelcome – baselessly smeared as security risks – while Gaza health care workers seeking visas were asked questions violating patient confidentiality. Some of those lucky enough to arrive have faced rude and intimidating airport questioning from Canadian border officers, while others have struggled to receive provincial health care coverage. (Ontario relented last month, but Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador still refuse access).

 While there’s temporary relief that bombs are no longer falling in Gaza, current conditions remain unlivable for the vast majority of the 2.1 million people squeezed into an area 1/7th the size of Ottawa.

To make best use of this short ceasefire time frame, Canadian immigration officials must urgently devote the same energy they invested into the Ukraine program, complete remaining Gaza applications (which could be done over 3 business days based on the CUAET pace), and negotiate with the Egyptian government and COGAT for the rapid exit of Canadians’ loved ones.

 After 15 months of inexcusable Canadian program failures, it’s the least we can do to fulfill our promise to reunite Canadian families with their traumatized loved ones.

 Matthew Behrens coordinates the Rural Refugee Rights Network. 

Palestinian-Canadians and Refugee Advocates Seek Urgent Support for Loved ones Seeking to Escape Gaza During Ceasefire

 

 

 

January 15, 2025 – With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Canadians with loved ones in Gaza are urging the Canadian government to take immediate action to ensure that those who applied to come to Canada under a special temporary residence program are able to exit Gaza and finalize their applications in Egypt or Jordan.

 

“Our community is weighed down with a huge sorrow that Canada has failed for over a year to protect our loved ones by acting quickly to get them out,” says Gazan Canadians League spokesperson Israa Alsaafin. “The only loved ones who escaped got out without assistance from Canada. To date, this program has been a total failure, and hundreds have been killed waiting for Canada. But now is an opportunity for Canada to finally do something right and ensure that it is ready to meet our loved ones at the Gaza border exits and get them reunited with us here in safety.”

 

As the Gaza special measures program marked its 1-year anniversary on January 9, only 616 individuals had arrived in Canada, all of them able to do so only because they lost their life savings to pay the exorbitant border exit fees. Some 4,700 applications have been received.

 

“In its first year, the Canadian government processed half a million applications for and welcomed 129,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, which shows that the system can work when the skin colour and religion of the applicants is politically acceptable to the immigration bureaucracy,” says Matthew Behrens of the Rural Refugee Rights Network. “Canada processed an average of 1,370 applications a day for Ukrainians, usually within a two-week turnaround,  whereas the average for people trying to escape a genocide in Gaza is 2 applications per day, with a lethal waiting time for some of over a year.” 

 

While many welcome the possibility of a 42-day ceasefire, conditions in the region remain tenuous, and any excuse could be used to end the ceasefire and continue the slaughter that has claimed upwards of 200,000 Palestinian lives, according to the British medical journal The Lancet.

 

“For the longest time, over 600 names of applicants to come to Canada have been in the hands of Israeli occupation authorities,” explains Omar Mansour, a founder of the Gazan Canadians League. “Canada not only needs to ensure that those 600 people are urgently approved for exit; it must also ensure that the remaining 2,500 to 3,000 applicants still in Gaza are expedited for exit approval as well. Time is really short here, and conditions can change on a dime. A failure to expedite all of these applications means more of our family members will die either from renewed bombing or starvation and disease. Despite all of its failures to be pro-active, now is the time for Canada to finally do right by our long-suffering community.”

 

Advocates are urging Canadian foreign affairs officials to be logistically prepared to meet applicants at border crossings and ensure their safe passage to Cairo or Amman, where they can finalize their biometrics and make plans to join family in Canada.

 

For more information, contact  Gazan Canadians League and the Rural Refugee Rights Network at tasc@web.ca or (613) 300-9536

Save This Gaza Family: Palestinian Refugees Must be Allowed to Bring Loved Ones to Canada

 

Please sign and share: https://www.change.org/p/save-this-gaza-family-palestinian-refugees-must-be-allowed-to-bring-loved-ones-to-canada

Canada’s special immigration measures for Gaza discriminate against anyone who is not yet a permanent resident or citizen. One such person, whose desperate wife and children must join him in Canada, is Mohammed Alsousi, a Palestinian refugee claimant who came to Canada in August 2022. Mohammed’s wife and children were forced to flee their bombed out home, suffered additional bombing-related injuries in a so-called “safe” area, and now struggle with diseases and severe hunger in an open air, non-winterized tent in the perilously over-crowded Rafah. The threat of death is all around them – from continued bombardment to water-borne viruses to starvation – yet they are ineligible for temporary resident permits because Mohammed’s status as a refugee claimant does not qualify him as an “anchor relative."

 

 (This is what the family's former home looked like after the bombing)

Forcing Mohammed’s family to endure daily risk to life and limb because of his status in Canada is grossly unfair and criminally negligent, especially when the Canadian government has acknowledged repeatedly that conditions in Gaza are dire and, in the words of Global Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, “Gaza is one of the worst places to live on Earth right now.” 

 

 

 (Two of the six children, Tala and Zain, were injured in the Rafah bombing)

Immigration Minister Marc Miller has promised this program would be flexible and adapt to changing information and circumstances. The program’s eligibility definition of an “anchor relative” must be expanded to include Palestinians here in Canada as refugee claimants, students, temporary residents and those on work permits. Notably, the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who came to Canada did not require an anchor relative. From January to September 2023, the Immigration and Refugee Board reported that there were 252 refugee claims accepted from Palestinians, with an additional 70 cases yet to be decided. Mohammed’s is one of the 70.

Unfortunately, his refugee claim – which he originally hoped to submit in January, 2023 – has still not been heard due to the incompetence of former legal counsel, forcing Mohammed to prepare his own case. On December 5, the Immigration and Refugee Board deemed Mohammed's file worthy of consideration under the category of  “less complex claims,” meaning the case is solid and could be decided without a hearing. While that is a positive step, it is not enough to help his family.

 

 

 (Mohammed's family, though injured, calls it a miracle that they survived the bombing of the house next to the one where they were staying in Rafah, which they'd been told would be safe)

It is clear that Mohammed is here to stay as an anchor relative: he works full time on a night shift; he has a place to live and pays his taxes; his refugee protection claimant document does not expire until 2027; his renewable open work permit is good until 2025; and he has the ability to financially support his family. The administrative matter of his official status in Canada should not determine whether he can save his wife and children. Making him wait for the almost certain refugee status that will be recognized by Canada, and then having to endure what is often a years-long delay for the processing of permanent residence applications before he can be viewed as worthy enough to be an “anchor relative” to save his family from a war zone – where every day over 100 Palestinians are killed by bombs and the United Nations predicts more will die from disease and starvation – is inhumane.

 (Mohammed’s wife, Kholod Al-Aklook, is a talented artist)

Mohammed’s wife is Kholod Al-Aklook, who holds a bachelor degree in commerce. They are the parents of six children, grandparents to one. Kholod is also a talented artist whose work beautifully captures the essence of love, family, nature and, most importantly,  home. 

Their daughter Yara writes about the frustrating forced removals from the north to the south and the fact that wherever they went, there was no way to find safety.  "Like hundreds of thousands of people we had to evacuate from Gaza City to the South (Rafah) in the first week of the war, thinking it was safe. We did not know that we will never see our home ever again. We felt hesitant and reserved about staying at other people's houses, having only a few pieces of clothing and belongings we could manage to carry. On the 29th of October, an Israeli air strike bombed a house right next to the house where we were staying in Rafah. I was injured along with my brother and sister as well; we were 60 people in that house, and the fact that we all survived is a miracle."

 

 (Bring this family to Canada by expanding the definition of anchor relative to include refugees and refugee claimants)

Just minutes after the Rafah bombing, Agence France-Presse took a picture of a blood-stained Yara holding her baby son Khaled (with her mother and brother behind them), an image that went viral on multiple news agencies and channels.

While Yara and her baby were thankfully able to get out to Egypt (her husband is Egyptian), her mother and five brothers and sisters remain in a flimsy tent in Rafah, with harsh conditions and barely anything to eat.

As we hear reports of the loved ones of Canadians being killed while Canada sits on their applications, Mohammed's is yet another family who cannot wait for the immigration bureaucracy to take years to resolve the matter of whether he can be an anchor relative. 

Mohammed, as well as all Palestinian refugees and refugee claimants in Canada, must have that recognition now so they can save their families. Minister Miller has the capacity and discretion to be flexible, as he has stated on countless occasions. It’s time to expand the eligibility of who is an anchor relative for the purposes of Canada’s special immigration measures for Gaza and allow Mohammed to bring his family to Canada for their safety and protection.

 An open-air, non-winterized tent in the middle of winter is not a safe place

Santa Says: Support Special Immigration Measures to Reunite Gaza Families with Their Canadian Loved Ones

 

On Wednesday, December 20 at 11 am at the Prime Minister’s office in Ottawa (Wellington and Elgin), Santa Claus will join friends and families of those desperately seeking immediate action from the Canadian government to issue family reunification permits to all family members seeking to leave the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It will also demand Canada take far more robust measures to ensure all Canadians still in Gaza are able to leave as well.

Sponsored by the Rural Refugee Rights Network – which successfully led a campaign to reunite 15 Palestinian families during and following the 2021 war against Gaza via the issuance of Early Admission Temporary Resident Permits – this family-friendly vigil will feature photos of those loved ones who need permits: siblings, parents, children, grandchildren, uncles, aunts.   Family is family and all are loved. Ottawa bureaucrats trying to rationalize a refusal to act by saying certain people are not "immediate" family when they are at risk of immediate death is cruel.

 

Public pressure forced the Canadian government to support a ceasefire at the United Nations. Similar public pressure can hopefully open some doors at the cold-hearted immigration and Global Affairs bureaucracies. 

 

The gathering will also present to Prime Minister Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marc Miller a number of family petitions (including https://www.change.org/p/canada-must-issue-permits-to-leave-gaza-for-4-grandchildren-of-canadian-family) signed by thousands of human beings who support the idea of providing a warm welcome for those who have been enduring horrific bombardment and mass violence that many scholars have described as akin to an ongoing genocide.

 

For those who cannot attend in Ottawa, we urge you to hold a vigil at your nearby Liberal MP’s office demanding immediate implementation of a special immigration measures program.  

“December holidays are rooted in freeing the captives, bringing good news to the poor and brokenhearted, and liberation of the oppressed,” explains Claus. “Even if the bombing were to end immediately – as it must – there are still over 2 million traumatized people with nowhere to live, nowhere to stay dry and warm as winter comes on, no food, no adequate medical care, no clean water. The greatest gift is to recognize our common humanity and act on it.”

 

For more information contact the Rural Refugee Rights Network at tasc@web.ca

Leading Writers Join February 15 Event to Demand Charges Be Dropped Against Indigenous Author Dawn Walker

 

Leading Writers Join February 15 Event to Demand Charges Be Dropped Against Indigenous Author Dawn Walker 

 

On February 15 at 8 pm EST, writers from across the land known as Canada will read from their works as part of an online event in support of award-winning Okanese First Nation writer and activist Dawn Walker. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writers-read-to-free-dawn-walker-drop-all-the-charges-february-15-8-pm-tickets-522159782967)

 

Walker, a Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour nominee (for The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour) faces decades in prison if convicted of a mountain of charges laid against her for trying to save herself and her child from abuse in August, 2022. 

 

The event, “Writers Read to Free Dawn Walker: Drop ALL the Charges,” features Eden Robinson, Farzana Doctor, Meaghan Strimas, Monia Mazigh,  Richard Van Camp, Duncan Mercredi, and Dawn Walker herself.  

 

“Dawn needs to be freed and charges dropped,” explains Matthew Behrens of the group Women Who Choose to Live, which is organizing the event. “Dawn's situation reflects a systematic failure to support her when she was most in need. Dawn has not failed anyone; the system has failed her as it does so often with Indigenous women, women of colour and LGBTQIA2S+.”

 

Eden Robinson, the author of Monkey Beach, Son of a Trickster, Trickster Drift, and Return of the Trickster, says she is joining the February 15 event because “Dawn is one of the most talented comedic writers I've read. Although I don't know her personally, I'm praying hard for her and her child. My heart goes out to her. I've witnessed so much violence against Indigenous women and it is so rare to get justice or even help. Big hugs, Dawn."

 

It’s a sentiment shared by Winnipeg Poet Laureate Duncan Mercredi (Spirit of the Wolf: Raise Your Voice and The Duke of Windsor: Wolf Sings the Blues) who declared: "When one knows someone is being abused, not just by someone she was close to until they showed their truth, and is also being abused by the system that was supposed to protect her, we must raise our fists and voices as one to stand beside her, not behind her."  

 

“Important to Stand With Dawn”

Farzana Doctor (author of You Still Look The Same, Seven, Stealing Nasreen), notes: "It's important for the writing community to be in solidarity with Dawn. We know that our 'legal' system treats survivors of violence and Indigenous communities with violence. Dawn must not be persecuted for attempting to protect herself and her child.” 

For Richard Van Camp, it’s also personal. A proud Tlicho Dene from Fort Smith, NWT and author of 27 books in 27 years, he says “I've been a friend and fan of Dawn's for years now and I stand with her in support and friendship.”

Monia Mazigh, author of Hope and Despair: My Struggle to Free My Husband Maher Arar, Mirrors and Mirages, and Hope Has Two Daughters, writes:  "As an author and human rights activist I can't remain silent with regards to what happened to Dawn Walker. Going after the most vulnerable in our society is morally wrong. Dawn needs to be protected not prosecuted." 

Dawn Walker’s case has reverberated throughout writing circles, the community of over-worked front-line workers seeking to end male violence against women, and advocates who have seen the damage caused by a dangerously deficient family court system that all too often brushes aside – even disappears – the very clear evidence of male violence against women and kids.

Meaghan Strimas, the program lead of Humber College's Bachelor of Creative & Professional Writing program and whose last book, Yes or Nope, was awarded the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, says “Like Dawn Walker, I am the mother of a young son. I know that if my child was ever threatened, I would do anything to protect him. I also know that the justice system routinely fails women and, in particular, Indigenous women.”

From an Oregon jail cell last August, Walker wrote: "I left Saskatoon because I feared for my safety and that of my son...[I was] failed by the Saskatchewan Justice system, the family law system and child protection. The police services did nothing to assist me. I reported my concerns to the child protection authorities and again nothing was done. I am fighting systems that continuously fail to protect me as an Indigenous woman and protect non-Indigenous men.”

And yet today Dawn Walker is subjected to strict house arrest with degrading, dehumanizing electronic monitoring, facing major criminal charges, for the alleged crime of trying to survive, to protect her child, as any loving and caring parent would do.

 

“Again and again, I have seen mothers, like Dawn, criminalized for their actions to try to protect themselves and their children, while fathers are not given so much as a slap on the wrist for abusing their children’s mother and are granted time with their children,” says 

well-known feminist lawyer Pamela Cross, a respected expert on violence against women and the law. "Dawn, her child and all women and children who leave relationships in which they were being abused, deserve legal systems that understand the nuanced and gendered dynamics of intimate partner abuse if they are to have any hope of being able to move on to lives free from abuse.”

 

A petition in support of Walker has almost 30,000 signatures (https://www.change.org/p/free-wrongfully-jailed-indigenous-writer-domestic-violence-survivor-dawn-dumont-walker) while a Go Fund Me to support her legal costs created by Idle No More is found here: https://gofund.me/0a503c39

 

For further details, contact Women Who Choose to Live at (613) 300-9536 or tasc@web.ca

 

 

Women Who Choose to Live

Standing with Women Who are Punished for Surviving

2583 Carling Ave., Unit M052

Ottawa, ON K2B 7H7

(613) 300-9536, tasc@web.ca