The Decibel - Palestinians fleeing Gaza face hurdles coming to Canada

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

The Israel-Hamas war has led to a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In January, Canada launched a temporary program for Canadians to bring their family members here from Gaza.Janice Dickson is the Globe’s international affairs reporter. She’s here to talk about what makes bringing people out of Gaza so challenging, and the frustration Canadians are feeling in trying to bring their loved ones here.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at [e-mail]

The war between Israel and Hamas has created a growing humanitarian crisis. People are trapped in Gaza, and many are trying to leave the territory to find safety. In response, Canada created a temporary immigration program for those fleeing the conflict to come to Canada. But people trying to access the program say it's been both restrictive and intrusive. Janice Dixon is The Globe's international affairs reporter, and she's here to explain why people say this immigration program is so frustrating and where it leaves those who are trying to flee Gaza. I'm Maina Karaman-Wilms, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail.

Janice, it's good to have you here. Great to be here. So what is the situation right now like on the ground in Gaza? The situation on the ground is dire. 80% of Gaza's population has been displaced. There are people sheltering in tents. There are communication blackouts, massive shortages of food, water, fuel, supplies. It really is a humanitarian catastrophe. The United Nations has been warning for some time now about unprecedented levels of acute food insecurity and hunger. And right now there are more than a million people crammed into the south, into Rafah, which is near the border with Egypt.

And this is basically because people have been kind of moving further and further south. Like, do people have, I guess, not a lot of options for where they can go? Exactly. So many people have moved south, avoiding the fighting. And because they've been told, move south, this is, you know, a safe place to go. I think there are no safe places in Gaza. But for quite some time, this has been a place where people have sought shelter. And this is basically the very southernmost part of Gaza, kind of across the border from Egypt there then. That's right. And a few weeks ago, I spoke with a UN official who had spent some time there. He described people in tents sort of all over the street and on sidewalks and people in the roads and having to share the roads with traffic.

People lined up at water stations and carrying buckets for great distances. And yeah, a really terrible situation there. And I want to ask you, too, about aid getting to people, because a lot of people in Gaza really depend on aid from elsewhere. So for food, for medicine, what are some of the challenges of actually getting aid into that territory? So there have been a ton of challenges. Before the war, I know that there were hundreds of trucks per day that would be entering Gaza. That's humanitarian aid, but also commercial trucks. And that's also come to an end, which has put more pressure on the little aid that does get in. The UN official that I talked to said that, you know, one challenge is just how dangerous it

is. And they might have a mission scheduled to northern Gaza, you know, in hopes of bringing medical supplies, food supplies. And then last minute, the Israeli defense forces will say, well, actually, you can't travel there, likely because of how dangerous it is and how unpredictable it is. And of course, this has also been made more complicated because a few weeks ago, Israel accused a dozen workers with UNRWA, which is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, accused them of being involved in the October 7th attacks. And in response, UNRWA did fire nine people. And a number of countries, including Canada, pulled funding to UNRWA. So how does, I guess, how does that impact how much aid can get in or what people are relying on there?

So UNRWA is the biggest relief agency in Gaza. And it provides primary health care services, food assistance, education. It has around 13,000 staff. And it also operates in other areas. You know, they operate in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and the West Bank. And I know when these countries announced that they were withdrawing their support and their financial assistance for UNRWA, there was a huge outcry from the aid community saying, you know, people need this. We can't do it on our own. And I know the UN official I talked to recently said that the lack of assistance or the change of assistance to UNRWA would be felt sort of towards the end of February.

Okay, so we've got a situation where people are being funneled into the south of Gaza down towards Rafah. But what's happening at the border there, Janice? What has Egypt said about letting people cross into its country? So people in Rafah are stuck there. It's Egyptian and Israeli authorities who control who exits Gaza. And Egypt has not offered to take them in. Likely the main reason is that they don't want to deal with an influx of refugees. So some other countries are looking at ways of getting people out of Rafah and out of Gaza. And Canada announced a program for Palestinians in Gaza to come to Canada. So let's talk about this, Janice. What exactly is this program? So this program is a new temporary resident pathway

for extended family members in Gaza of Canadian citizens or permanent residents to come to Canada, provided that their relative here will support them. It's a three-year program, and eligible family members could be spouses, children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents. They can apply for a free study permit or an open work permit under this program. And then the intent is that that will help them support themselves here while the war continues.

And how many people has Canada said they'll bring in under this program? So initially, the government announced that there would be a thousand person cap, which I know created quite a bit of chaos among relatives here hoping to get one of those spots. Now, Immigration Minister Mark Miller has since said that he's flexible on this number. But interestingly, the department's response is still that there's a thousand spots for the program. A couple of weeks ago, the Immigration Department said that they had processed 967 applications. Now, there are a number of people who are working their way through the process. So there is a much higher number of people who want to come to Canada, but right now they're at that number. And given the minister's comments that he'll be flexible, I think the hope is that

everyone would be accommodated. Yeah. Okay. Well, let's focus on the process of actually going through this application then, because this seems like it's something important to talk about here. So what does this process involve? So there are a few steps to apply for a temporary resident visa through this program. First, what happens is that the applicant in Gaza or their representative in Canada, they submit an online form with some documents and then they wait. Now, if they receive a reference code, then they can fill out these sort of more involved forms. So you have to wait for a code. I mean, is this a normal process? Well, it's interesting. I know with the Afghanistan program, people also have to be invited to apply.

So you signal your intent and then you get an invitation and then you can kind of proceed. I've just never heard it called a code before. But even getting the code has created a lot of frustration because I spoke with a number of Palestinian Canadians and lawyers who represent them who couldn't get these codes. And one man, for instance, he lives just outside of Toronto, and he was telling me that he got codes for his parents and sister, but his wife applied for her family and she still hasn't received codes. And then there's no explanation. And I know that's something that lawyers are really hoping for is some kind of explanation why if my client is not getting a

code, what's going on here? And there's, it's just crickets. We'll be right back. Okay, so first step is this first part. If you get a code, then you can proceed to the next step, which is the application. So what does this part of the process entail? So this part of the process has received a lot of criticism. And this is where applicants are asked a range of questions, including if they have scars or injuries that have required medical attention, how they sustained them. They're asked for links to their social media accounts, previous work history dating back years, including the names of their supervisors,

reasons for leaving the job, and any disciplinary issues. Some of those questions are challenging, and some people I've spoken to have said they're discriminatory or problematic, particularly asking about scars or injuries. you know, experiencing these communication blackouts might not get online until, you know, three or four in the morning here. And then, you know, the relative in Canada is not awake to have that back and forth. And then, you know, of course, following what's happening there with all of the bombardment and family members being displaced multiple times. So it's been very stressful for these people. Yeah. You said, you know, they have to fill out injuries and scars requiring medical attention. That's a very specific thing. Also, like details about addresses and employment history. Like is, I guess, is this normal,

Janice? Like, is this process normally this complicated? I think there are a number of questions that have appeared on in other immigration programs or on other forms. I spoke with five immigration lawyers and none of them have had ever seen applicants trying to flee a war zone being asked questions about injuries and how they've sustained them. And, you know, the government has said that the form is part of its standard practice in crisis situations where the department does not have any kind of presence on the ground. And the department has also said that collecting this additional information on the forms allows them to conduct a preliminary screening security while they're still in Gaza, because ultimately they don't have any ability to do that. And of course, the application must have fees, right? There must be costs associated with this whole process. People do have to pay for biometrics. They have to pay

application processing fees. I'm sure that some have paid lawyers. That's, of course, independent from the government's fees. And I spoke with a woman who said she spent over $2,000 on application fees related to bringing her family here. These Canadians who are trying to bring their relatives here, their priority is saving their loved ones' lives. I don't think they're thinking a lot about the costs, but it is important to point out that there is a cost associated with this. It's not free, and it would add an extra layer of pressure, absolutely.

Okay, and then there's the third part of this application process as well, right? Because once you get your code, you have to fill out this whole application. You also have to get your biometrics done. So this is like your photo and your fingerprints. Can we talk about that? So that's perhaps the largest challenge because every successful applicant has to get their biometrics done outside of Gaza. And that's where the holdup is now. There's a number of people who I spoke to who said that they received emails instructing them to proceed to that step, but they can't. They're just, you know, they're stuck in Gaza. They can't get it

done there and then they can't get out. I know Immigration Minister Mark Miller made some comments last week about some frustration around what's happening with officials at the border and people who his department provided names to cross and get these biometrics done and they were prevented from crossing. So there are elements of this that are totally out of the Canadian government's control. Absolutely. And some of the lawyers who I spoke with also acknowledged this, but the government did make this promise of reuniting these families and having people go through this process, I think their expectation is that their exit would be facilitated. And that's where the frustration

is growing now. Yeah. Yeah. So it sounds like, as you say, you know, frustration is certainly brewing from the people that you've spoken to, Janice. I mean, what have they said about their experience trying to bring their family here? I spoke with several Palestinian Canadian families, including one man, Amr Fawzi, who's trying to bring his elderly here. I spoke with several Palestinian-Canadian families, including one man, Amr Fawzi, who's trying to bring his can do the math here. There are thousands of people who lost their lives since the launch of this program. And this is supposed to be an urgent measure to help reunite families and save lives. And so far, not a single person managed to get out of civil Gaza through this program over to Canada. And when he asked his parents about their address, his mom just broke

down in tears because they've moved 17 times. You know, even the morning that I spoke with him, he said he had talked to his parents earlier that day and they had moved again because a missile had struck a building nearby. I spoke with one woman who said, you know, she's trying to bring her sister, her sister's young kids and her husband here to Canada. And in the meantime, they're just living in a tent. And in fact, her lawyer said that they had to provide proof of residency in Gaza and actually sent the immigration department a photo of their tent to prove like this is where we're living. So it seems like there's a lot of roadblocks with the Canadian program. But then on top of that, it's just really hard to get people out of Gaza.

And so that's a little bit outside of the Canadian government's ability here. Because the border is controlled by Egypt and by Israel, I mean, is there anything the Canadian government can do there? Like, is there anything we can do to facilitate people crossing? There likely is some diplomacy that can be done there, for sure. And you would think that some of that work would have been done before the program was announced. I don't have any insight into what those conversations were or if they took place, but I would think that that would be a priority now for certain. And just to be clear, has anyone made it to Canada through this current program to bring Palestinians to Canada? The last I heard was that nobody had arrived yet under that program.

Canada, of course, does have a history of bringing people in during times of conflict. I'm thinking in recent years, of course, Afghanistan and Ukraine. And I know you've covered both of those extensively too, Janice. So how does this attempt to help people from Gaza come to Canada, how does that compare to those other examples? Well, it's quite a bit more restrictive. And that's the main point I heard from many lawyers who I spoke to about this. So with the program to reunite family members with their relatives in Gaza, of course, it's capped at a thousand. For the government's program to bring Afghans who had worked for the Canadian government's military and diplomatic mission in the country, as well as Afghans who were deemed particularly vulnerable to Taliban persecution, the government brought over 40,000 Afghans here.

And under the program to support Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, more than 200,000 Ukrainians have arrived here, and more than 900,000 applications have been approved for that particular program. So there are very stark differences here, even just looking at the numbers. How have federal officials responded to this, Janice? It sounds like there has been some criticism, some frustration here. So Immigration Minister Mark Miller, how has he responded to this? Well, he expressed frustration last week because a list of people who are related to Canadians were prevented from leaving.

And so, of course, the Canadian government has no control over that border. But he obviously was under the impression that if people had been approved for travel onward to Canada, they would be allowed through there. I'm sure there'll be some diplomatic efforts underway to try and help these people get across. So just lastly here, Janice, I mean, assuming that eventually some Palestinians are able to get to Canada, the government is offering this three-year temporary visa. But what about after those three years? What are people's options? Well, it's a great question. And I think it's one that family members of

Palestinians living in Gaza and applicants are already thinking about because, of course, no one wants to leave their home. No one wants to be forced to leave their home. And they're considering this to be temporary. I think many people are considering this as a temporary solution. And they want to be able to return eventually and sort of have that guaranteed. You know, I spoke with one man who said that his siblings have kind of resigned to the fact that they likely wouldn't return. But his parents are thinking, yes, of course we would return, right? And he said it's really heartbreaking, this question of being able to return home after everything is over. Janice, thank you so much for being here.

Thanks for having me. That's it for today. I'm Maina Karaman-Wilms. Michal Stein produced this episode. Our producers are Madeline White, Cheryl Sutherland, and Rachel Levy-McLaughlin. David Crosby edits the show. Adrienne Chung is our senior producer and Angela Pachenza is our executive editor.

Thanks so much for listening and I'll talk to you tomorrow.