The Gaza Strip sees its fourth month of war the World Health Organization warns the healthc care sector is collapsing at a rapid Pace hospitals report dozens more casualties after a night of heavy air strikes Canadians continue to worry about their family members who remain stuck in that region but today a sliver
Of Hope for those hoping to be reunited with their loved ones a new temporary Visa program set to allow 1,000 Palestinians into Canada is now accepting applications the program would allow family members of Canadians to seek Refuge here for 3 years Mark Miller is the Minister of immigration Minister
Welcome back to the show thanks for having me on Happy New Year happy New Year Minister uh applications for this program open today uh how quickly can successful applicants start to hear back of whether or not they can get passage to Canada well this is David a pretty quick
Process to get into place all things being said obviously in a in humanitarian crisis that is uh Gaza we want to get people to safety as quickly as possible but uh there are concerns in and around safety so the three-stage process that was launched today is one that will require people to submit
Information um and in some cases go through Biometrics in in Cairo so um we want to get people to safety as quickly as possible it’s something that we committed to but it’s something that will take uh will take some time no guarantees being that we can actually
Get people out in this case of of the Rafa border crossing because these are are elements that are not under the control of of Canadian authorities but um the objective here is to make sure that people that have loved ones with a connection to Canada can come here for
Uh some temporary safety while uh while the crisis continues okay there’s a you touched on a few things here that that I wanted to explore let’s start with just getting them out of Gaza in the first place um because that is an enormous challenge because Egypt and Israel and
Control the inflow and outflow of people through the Rafa border crossing so have you secured any guarantee from those two states that people Canada picks for this program will be able to get out and get into Egypt and make their way to Canada no we haven’t in fact in addition
To those two actors Hamas a terrorist organization has committed Untold atrocities has their word to say and sometimes plays games at that same border crossing so the concern is Extreme and the undertakings are often ones that are that are tenuous at best we saw and had experience with that with
Trying to get out Canadian citizens themselves out of Gaza with Windows opening and closing sometimes on on very short notice so it’s something we’ll have to work with on the ground with the authorities the Israeli authorities and security people have their own view as to what a list would look like and and
Names on those lists and undoubtedly would subject them to some verification once we once that is achieved uh Canada would do its own Biometrics in in Cairo so no guarantee that people can get out uh but the effort is worth it and it’s one that there has been
Significant uh attention to in Canada and demands from Canada to act we think this is the Humane thing to do for Canadians that have uh connections to people that are trying to just simply stay alive um and we’re quite hopeful that we’ll be able to do that but it
Will require the same work that we put into getting Canadians out just a few short weeks ago is it more difficult to do uh knowing that these people who you would be trying to get out are not Canadian citizens I mean people who came out before with all of those
Complications were at least citizens of the country which gave the embassy there a certain weight in dealing with the foreign States but this would not be the case here certainly and I think you know it isn’t necessarily uh up to the host country for in Egypt in this case to say
That they’re going to accept People based on a policy that Canada has has put forward when it comes to your own citizens or permanent residents there’s a different protocol um you wouldn’t be performing for example Biometrics on Canadian citizens seeking to flee a country in this case you have no
Certainty as to what the background of those people are uh for historical reasons Gaza tend to be gazans tend to be heavily documented or have documentation so there are there can be all sorts of issues and challenges along the way what I would say David though is
That we have had some limited success in getting people out that aren’t Canadian citizens and do have a connection to Canada in some cases some very young uh girls that were injured and we were able to secure their safe passage from Egypt to Canada so that they wouldn’t get
Return to Gaza so we have some experience in able in being able to do this but now in an institutionalized way with a policy it’ll be something that’ll come with some volume and and that’s something that um we’ll do our best at but again no firm guarantee that will be
Able to achieve this goal the the other complication I see here minister is that you’re looking for Biometrics that are up to date you’re looking for passports um with people having to say flee their homes or having their homes bombed out uh you know inside Gaza they may not
Have those they could be lost they could be destroyed how do you deal with those complications if people just don’t have these things uh that that are required to take part of this program well what we won’t be able to compromise is uh is the security aspect of this David but
When it comes to people’s ability to ident ify themselves um there will have to be a process whereby we will apply you know a risk-based analysis of of what that looks like if we’re talking about someone or and and I hate to speculate with events that have not
Happened but when you’re talking about you know some kids that have lost their parents obviously uh you’re not going to be as worried about uh the security profile of some four-year-olds as you will with respect to someone that perhaps is of adult age uh and has some history uh without documentation so
Those are all on the ground analyses that we’ll have to do sometimes on a case-by Case basis um but we are confident that we will be able to welcome the numbers that we have announced publicly that we will be able to welcome which for now is is a
Thousand but with some flexibility when we see the ultimate number the the National Council for Canadian Muslims that says a thousand is not ambitious enough it’s it’s too small of a number and I wonder minister is it does the website shut down once a thousand people
Apply or does a shutdown once a thousand people have been approved uh so no we’re going to get we’re going to try it would be it would be pointless to sort of shut things down uh once sort of a thousand applications come in of of varying
Quality we want to get a sense of what that volume is and and we will be flexible U you know we don’t have a sense of what the numbers are that we’re dealing with we’re we’re speculating people can have various iterations of of family connections and various levels of
Desire to sponsor people I obviously I’m not presuming that people want to leave their relatives in a in a in a war zone but clearly we’ll look at that volume and and be flexible and in in looking perhaps even to expand it if the volume does exceed a thousand but for now um
The website or portal just opened today we’re looking at relatively low volume but again it’s too early to speculate whether that’s just a temporary thing or or something that’ll last expand it by what order of magnitude Minister because as I I ref I can’t speak publicly about
That David we’ll have to have a conversation as a government uh to look at what that that would look like what if we look at very large volume we’re going to want to start looking at what other countries can start doing clearly this is a a war zone and and a disaster
Area where it is um hard to just get food or water and people’s safety is constantly being threatened so if we see very large numbers it’s something we’ll have to look at at at our partners to see who can host people fleeing a War Z Zone but when it comes to family members
And those that are subject to the policy if we see numbers that make sense I’m sure Canada will do as it always does and and be flexible and open Omar Omar is one Canadian who hopes he can be reunited with his family through this plan and he joins us now Omar Omar it’s
Nice to meet you thanks for taking the time thank you uh we just heard uh from the immigration Minister Mark Miller who said There is some flexibility in how the government will assess the 10,000 recipients of the new temporary Visa program what’s your reaction to what the minister had to say
There well I I think I mean this announcement came too late for all of us we’ve been panicking we’ve been anxious the whole time the whole the whole Community is is being under stress from day one about this war until now so when we saw the number we felt that extremely
Disappointed and people I had people calling me crying I was like a thousand number but I’m bringing more people and then we started having fights in between our own Community people saying why should you bring your family members and why you should bring your family members
And all these all these all these things and problems caused by the immigration uh Ministry of immigration being um not really obvious or or even clear with us about what exactly their intentions are I I was listening to The Honorable Minister about the capacity that he’s seeing that he’s saying that he’s
Speaking about but at the same time to what capacity we are really worried and the Thousand number is nothing well the Thousand I mean if you listen to the obstacles that need to be overcome that the minister laid out there how optimistic you are you that a thousand
PE people can even get out of Gaza with the permission of Hamas of Israel and Egypt and then meet the the qualifications to get here because the the the obstacles are are are pretty significant there so I have contact I I lived in the Gaz Tri my whole life and I
Have contact on the grounds with everyone even even I I worked with International organizations in the Gaza Strip and I get information from the Gaza Strip and also from people who left people who are leaving the the Gaza STP and the names are actually published online in thousands um the idea of
Giving that there are too many obstacles is a little bit alarming for all of us um plus that when we see that they are talking about too too many obstacles and at the same time talking about a thousand person only this for us makes us feel more uncomfortable about what
Exactly the government is thinking of um yeah well well well surely there’s things like Egypt could say no Israel could say no Hamas could say know these are things that are outside of Canada’s control but you say a thousand isn’t enough I mean what would be an
Acceptable number uh for Canada to take in keeping in mind these are not Canadian citizens in previous cases let’s remember in previous cases there was no cap there was nothing about numbers in previous cases uh Canada just BR people who needed Refuge period and that was
The whole case uh in previous cases even Canada brought people who doesn’t even have ties to Canadians here or ties to Canada and those people are now PR um so I think that question should be is why do we even have a cap well there’s a cap
On Afghan refugees for example that were taken in uh right I think it was much higher than a thousand obviously um but but there have been caps so I just if a thous like an uncap uh relocation plan is what you want to see or is it just a
Larger number than a thousand well there are the criteria the criteria is talking about extended family members and needs and nephews Etc so you’re not talking about 100,000 we’re not talking about 30,000 you’re talking about very limited numbers of people but the idea of having
One cap made all of us being very very very exhausted of thinking what exactly is happening because we don’t know the numbers the Canadian government does not know the numbers he just mentioned that um they will measure the numbers of they want to see the sense of the numbers of
People that are applying and eligible as well uh we’re not talking about transfer these people and most of these people will actually go back to the Gaza STP including my family uh including my parents I was begging my parents to come to Canada for years and they never
Wanted to come here but after they lost everything these people have no infrastructure to go and survive and they need Healthcare so that’s the minimum I can get them refuge for three years I am 100% confident that many of these people will go back right so I I
Know you’ve been filling out forms all day uh since the web page opened uh trying to get people here um who are you trying to get here and how are they doing right now uh in Gaza what are you hearing from them well we we’ve heard from many International organizations and
Reputable human rights organizations that Gaza is facing starface so number one if you survive um a sniper pullet or a bomb here and there you you might not survive starvation the situation there is extremely severe um I don’t think many people understand the in the intensity of the situation in the
Gaza Strip it’s really really severe um what what I want Canada to do is to do um to proceed with this as soon as possible we we we can’t wait for more uh on this you mentioned though your parents who who you’re trying to get
Here um how many people do you hope uh in that that would meet the qualifications uh you can bring to Canada under this program well I have my parents I have my sisters and I have my sisters and brothers in-laws and their their families uh we’re talking about between
Five to 10 15 maximum I I don’t really know if if the whole policy applies to all of them uh because we do have also a limit for the age of siblings for 22 for example and people are even raising the concern about this in in in a
Palestinian culture um like siblings can be over 22 and they are still single and they still they’re still dependent on their family because you know the Gaza SHP has no work the the unemployment rating is extremely high so people want these people to get out to seek refuge
And have a good life in Canada is your family safe uh we’ve spoken with Palestinian Canadians with with family in Gaza who have suffered just enormous losses um throughout this conflict how is your family endured throughout this so I I will have I will answer
About my family and also I want to raise the voices of those who lost family members while they were waiting for this policy and those who lost extended family members and even parents in the Gaza STP after the policy was published and after until like from the policy was
Published in December 21st to January 9th there are people we lost people from our own Community who are their wck family members and that’s why I’m saying about the urgency of the situation for my parents some sometimes they’re safe sometimes they’re not safe and the reason because of that is the Israeli
Army U moves in some areas and B and bumps some areas and then they come back and then they they withdraw from from the same areas so the battles are from block to block and they go in and out the whole time uh sometimes they get
Lucky and and I get hold of them maybe once a day uh maybe once a week it like you never know it’s a survival mode right well Omar Omar uh I hope uh I hope your parents and the rest of your family are safe thank you so much uh for
Speaking with us today thank you
A new federal program will allow 1,000 Palestinian family members of Canadian citizens to seek refuge in the country on temporary visas for three years. Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the government could look at expanding the 1,000-person cap depending upon the volume they see.
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