On Thursday, August 5 (or whenever you get this request), please take two minutes to write and call in support of 8 war-traumatized Gaza families desperately seeking to be reunited in Canada with their moms/dads and other siblings. (Sample emails and messages below!) With your support, 4 of the 12 families have won the necessary permits, but we need to keep up the pressure to ensure these families' applications are processed on an urgent basis.

Applications for these permits have been sitting with overseas visa posts since late June. Given the ongoing crisis in Gaza and threat of renewed hostilities, there is no excuse for further delay. In early June, 2021, Canada granted Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits to the Gaza-based husband and children of Ottawa Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo 13 days after her family applied. Last week, Palestinian refugee Ola Dahman of London, ON received approval after 14 days. The other 8 families must have their cases expedited in a similar manner.

These families, have already suffered a devastating 2-3 year separation from their loved ones in Canada, all of whom are Palestinian refugees whose permanent residence applications are pending. Because the processing period averages 39 months, and because the outbreak of new hostilities is ever present, we are calling for the immediate issuance of blanket Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits to allow for their immediate reunification.

Leaving them in "the hell on earth for children that is Gaza," as the UN notes, is unconscionable. Without reunification, they remain exposed to further physical and emotional harm and trauma, and a family separation that could be as long as 5 to 6 years.

No child should be forced to wait 5 years to hug their parent. No child should be left in a war zone.

Sample email (feel free to personalize—why is this important to you?)
To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca, Minister@cic.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,

I am writing today in support of the 8 Gaza refugee families in Canada who urgently need immediate Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits. Similar permits have already been granted to four families.
These families have not seen their loved ones for 2 to 3 years, and may not see them for another 39 months. This is unacceptable in the midst of a humanitarian crisis where the lethal threat of military violence continues to hang over their heads.

Applications for these families are already on the desks of the overseas visa posts. They should be processed on an urgent, expedited basis. Better yet, issue blanket permits to these families now and process their TRP applications while they are safely reunited in Canada.

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.
In the summer of 2018, Canada issued a Temporary Resident Permit to a B.C. refugee teenager so he could play baseball. In early June, 2021, Canada granted Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits to the Gaza-based husband and children of Ottawa Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo, who fled Gaza in 2019. They received those permits 13 days after applying. Three other Palestinian refugees in Canada will soon be reunited with their families because their permits have also been approved.

I am joining many others in calling on you to do the same for the remaining 8 Gaza families, whose circumstances enduring a humanitarian crisis match the conditions that gave rise to Qunoo’s happy family reunion.

You 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. I 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 the mid-June 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 from Gaza while their permanent residency applications are processed. The ceasefire is fragile, the conditions of daily life are desperate. 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 in June within 13 days of receiving her application. 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.”