Canada: Gazan families sue government for visa application delays
Feb 22, 2025 11:00 am
By Robert Spencer
3 Comments
They’ll get in, of course. To bar them would be “Islamophobic.” And they’ll bring their religion and culture with them. What a multicultural paradise Canada will be then!
“Gazan families sue Canada for visa application delays,” by Nicholas Keung, Toronto Star, February 19, 2025:
Eleven families from Gaza are taking the Canadian government to court for prolonging their “exposure to life-threatening and inhumane conditions” by delaying application processing under a program meant to offer relief from the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
The families represent 53 people, including 27 babies and children, who have applied for visas under the temporary resident pathway for Palestinian extended family in Gaza program, launched in January 2024.
The measure provides a temporary haven for Palestinians directly affected by the war in Gaza who have ties to family members here who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and are willing to support them.
Canadian anchor relatives are required to submit a web form to the Immigration Department with supporting documentation on behalf of their family members in Gaza. Officials then review the forms and documents before providing each applicant in Gaza a unique reference code to begin the visa application process.
All of the litigants’ Canadian relatives say they submitted web forms with the proper documentation within a month of the program’s opening. To date, none have the codes, nor do they have a refusal for incompleteness, or any justification for the delay.
The program, which had been expanded from the initial intake of 1,000 applications to 5,000, ends April 22 or when all spots are filled. As of Jan. 4, immigration officials said 4,782 applications were accepted into processing.
“They were afraid that they would lose their opportunity,” said lawyer Damey Lee, who represents the group along with colleagues Hana Marku and Debbie Rachlis.
“They are just frustrated and wholly disappointed in the Canadian government for not even providing them an explanation as to where their family members are in the process and why it has taken a year to issue codes.”
According to affidavits submitted to the court, the applicants — all with identities withheld under a court order to protect their safety — have experienced attacks first hand, witnessing airstrikes and bombings, sometimes with “no warning.”… |
