(Sample emails and phone messages below!)
Today, Monday, June 21, join us to make a phone call and send an email urging the federal government to immediately issue permits to reunite Gaza's war-traumatized children (like Khaled and Hazem, above) and spouses with their Canadian loved ones, from whom they have been separated for more than two years.
Without an immediate, positive intervention, they face an additional separation of up to 39 months. These are traumatized children yearning for a parent’s comforting hugs or dreaming of a safe playground without bomb craters. They are spouses unable to build lives together. They are families for whom each moment apart is a cruel punishment, and for whom the ongoing airstrikes of the past week are a constant reminder of the fragility and precariousness of their lives.
Some of these families had their homes destroyed in the May, 2021 attacks. Others have medical conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza. Kids cannot go to school, electricity and internet are intermittent, playgrounds are too dangerous to use. Children are sitting in corners, traumatized from the bombing, while others cry uncontrollably or refuse to sleep at night for fear the bombs will return along with the nightmares.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared last month, "If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza.”
With the increasing tensions resulting in another outburst of violence this past week, it is imperative that these families – de facto single parents and their children – be allowed to come to Canada now while their permanent residence applications are processed.
Earlier this month, Ottawa granted such a group of permits to Ottawa Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo. We are calling on Ottawa to do the same for these Gaza families in Canada.
Sample Email
(please make sure you add in those cc-ed)
(Feel free to add in a personal statement at the beginning or end—ie, “As a parent, I cannot imagine the impossible situation these families are in” or “People’s lives should not be at risk because of politics” etc.
Subject Line: Issue Temporary Resident Permits To reunite Gaza's War-traumatized Children and Spouses with Loved Ones in Canada
To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, Marco.Mendicino@parl.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,
We are calling on you as Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to urgently issue blanket Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits to immediately reunite at least a dozen convention refugees in Canada who have been separated from their loved ones in war-ravaged Gaza for more than two years. 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.”
Canada has a history of enacting such measures in response to humanitarian crises. Recently, IRCC announced a temporary residence public policy for in-Canada families of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 tragedies. Last September, similar assistance was extended to those with loved ones affected by the horrific Beirut explosion. Following the December, 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, Canada waived fees and granted priority processing to hundreds of affected permanent resident applicants.
Earlier this month, IRCC granted such permits to Ottawa Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo. We are calling on Ottawa to do the same for these Gaza families in Canada, whose circumstances enduring a humanitarian crisis match the conditions that gave rise to Qunoo’s happy family reunion.
Last year, Prime Minister Trudeau marked World Refugee Day by declaring: “Canada stands in solidarity with the millions of people around the world who long for what is often taken for granted: a safe place to call home. We will continue to do our part to support refugees and forcibly displaced people….All countries share a moral responsibility to help refugees and forcibly displaced people find shelter and start their lives anew.” You also tweeted last November that "Our government strongly believes in the importance of keeping families together—particularly during difficult times. Now, more than ever, family reunification is an important component of Canada’s immigration system.”
Answering this call to reunite in-Canada Palestinian refugee families with children and spouses facing such difficult times while stuck in Gaza will help give true life to that commitment.
Time is short, tensions are high, and misery is growing. We 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 this week’s escalation of violence, "This time, a friend or a neighbour gets killed. Next time, will it be my child?”
NAME
CITY, Province
SAMPLE CALL
Marco Mendicino’s office (leave a message if you can): 613-992-6361, 416-781-5583
If the lines are full (or if you have an extra minute, please call Parliamentary Secretary to the Immigration Minister, Peter Schiefke 613-957-3744 (or, if full, 450-510-2305)
Hi, my name is XXX and I'm calling from XXXXXXXXX to support the Palestinian refugee families in Canada who are trying to bring their kids and spouses here while their permanent residency applications are processed. The ceasefire is fragile, with two nights of bombing this week alone. The kids are traumatized, their loved ones here sick with fear. Canada issued a permit to reunite the family of an Ottawa refugee from Gaza earlier this month. 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. Please act before it is too late.”