On Thursday, August 12 (or whenever you get this notice), please take two minutes to write and call in support of Sama and Sireen (who have been in hiding for four years in Gaza and survived the most heavily bombed street in Gaza in May). They are among 19 war-traumatized Gaza children and 8 de facto single parents desperately seeking to come to Canada and be reunited with their moms/dads, other siblings and spouses. (Sample emails and messages below!)

The federal immigration bureaucracy is failing to treat these as urgent cases. Urgent Action Applications for Sama and Sireen's permits have been sitting with an overseas visa post 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. The family of London Palestinian refugee Ola Dahman received confirmation of permits in 14 days. The remaining families must have their cases expedited in a similar manner.

These de facto single parents and their kids 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.

Ultimately, everyone's biggest fear is that someone will be killed in a war zone waiting on paperwork processing when a safe alternative is available to them with temporary resident permits in Canada.

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
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 who urgently need immediate Early Entrance Temporary Resident Permits. Similar permits have already been granted to four families. All of their names and case file numbers have been repeatedly submitted to your office.

One of the cases on your desk details the circumstances of two girls named Sama and Sireen who, like Anne Frank, have spent the past 4 years in hiding, moving from one safe house to another. Surely your officials can recognize the seriousness of the trauma and risk to these girls every day they are not brought to Canada.

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. I would hate to read in the media that one of these precious children or one of their parents was killed in Gaza while waiting for Canada’s helping hand.

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 the 8 remaining 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 8 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 immediately to the other members of this 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.”

3. You can also contribute to the costs of getting these families back together again through the Rural Refugee Rights Network’s Family Reunification Fund with etransfers to tasc@web.ca or cheques to Homes not Bombs, mailed to 2583 Carling Ave., Unit M052, Ottawa, ON K2B 7H7