Montreal Canada – Abdallah Alhamadni knows that time is running out.
Every day, the 51-year-old Palestinian father of three checks to see if his efforts to bring his loved ones in Gaza to safety have progressed.
But Alhamadni, a Canadian permanent resident who lives in Milton, Ontario, says he is stuck in a dangerous waiting game as Israel continues to wage war in the Gaza Strip.
“We feel paralyzed, depressed, frustrated and in tears,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “Sometimes we feel like we have to be strong to support them because we are their only hope. There are many things coming together and we are alone.
Originally from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Alhamadni is trying to bring 61 members of his family, including 27 children, to Canada under a new temporary visa program for Palestinians affected by the Israeli military offensive.
Unveiled last month, the program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to bring extended family members from Gaza to the country, where they will be granted a temporary residence visa for up to three years.
But the process has drawn criticism from candidates and human rights advocates.
Alhamadni called it confusing and time-consuming. Gaza remains under heavy Israeli fire and regularly faces power and internet outages. Alhamadni therefore had difficulty contacting his relatives and obtaining the necessary information to complete the requests.
The amount of personal details Palestinians are asked to provide has also come under scrutiny, with Canadian immigration lawyers saying the process goes beyond what is typically required.
One form (PDF) asks people to provide a detailed employment history dating back to the age of 16, as well as links to social media accounts and a list of all their in-laws. It also asks applicants to detail any scars or injuries that required medical attention, including how they were sustained.
“They are imposing all these impossible conditions on us,” said Alhamadni, who told Tel Aviv Tribune that his relatives had been displaced several times since the start of the Gaza war. “I try (to do) everything I can.”
The program
Marc Miller, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced the opening of the temporary resident visa program on January 9, three months after the start of the war in Gaza.
The move comes as the Canadian government publicly calls for more to be done to help residents of the besieged enclave. At least 25,900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardments on Gaza since the war began on October 7.
Senior United Nations officials have repeatedly called for a ceasefire as the territory recovers from mass displacement of its residents, a crippled health system and a lack of water, food and other humanitarian supplies.
“The situation on the ground in Gaza is difficult and volatile,” Miller said in a statement announcing the Canadian visa program. “These new measures provide a humanitarian path to safety and recognize the importance of keeping families together given the current crisis. »
But Ottawa faced immediate criticism when it revealed it planned to issue up to 1,000 temporary visas to Palestinians in Gaza – a ceiling that rights advocates said was too low. Miller later said there was no hard limit on the number of applications accepted.
In an email to Tel Aviv Tribune, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the program “expires once 1,000 applications have been accepted or one year after the entry into force of the public policy, whichever comes first.”
“IRCC continues to demonstrate flexibility as we assess the situation, including the volume of applications received and the ability to assist eligible family members to leave Gaza and reach a safe third country,” the spokesperson said. -speech.
As of January 16, Canada was processing 144 requests, but none had been finalized, the spokesperson added. The government also said there was no guarantee that candidates would be able to leave Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli siege.
Egypt has also restricted departures through the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s southern border as part of a long-running blockade.
“If people can leave Gaza, the security assessment will be completed in the third county where IRCC can collect biometric data,” the IRCC spokesperson said. “IRCC will then finalize the (temporary resident visa) application and make a decision as to whether (the) person is authorized to come to Canada.”
Bureaucratic “cruelty”
According to Naseem Mithoowani, an immigration lawyer in Toronto, the Canadian government has failed to provide adequate information and clear communication about the visa program, fueling confusion within the Palestinian community.
“People are worried about the cap and wondering if it will be expanded; how applications are evaluated based on their place in the queue; (and) why some people are further ahead than others while applying at the same time,” Mithoowani told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“There is a lack of transparency around the process itself.”
She added that Palestinian Canadians have also expressed concerns about some of the program’s requirements, including the ability to provide financial support to their relatives in Gaza. They also asked who will see the information provided in the applications and whether it will be shared with other countries.
“The Palestinian community has lost a lot of trust in our government, and that’s part of, I think, the increased anxiety levels or the increased need for communication in this particular case,” Mithoowani said.
Yameena Ansari, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Calgary, also said that while the program initially provided a “ray of hope” for many Palestinians in Canada, “their hopes were quickly dashed » when they understood its scope and limited requirements.
“We have been informed that these very invasive questions that are being asked are coming from Canada. They don’t come from Israel or Egypt,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Security checks are an integral part of the immigration process, Ansari explained. But “the idea of throwing so many forms at people who are trying to escape a crisis” is inconceivable.
“Something that never escapes me… is the cruelty of forms,” Ansari said. “We can be cruel to people through bureaucratic and administrative means. »
She also pointed out that what may seem like a small barrier to applying could prove insurmountable for someone struggling with violence and displacement.
The minister defends his plan
Asked about the outcry over the visa application questions, the IRCC spokesperson told Tel Aviv Tribune that Canada was using a “multi-step security screening approach” for the Gaza visa program.
“This is part of standard practice in crisis response situations where IRCC is not present on the ground to initiate initial screening and biometric data collection, as we did with Afghanistan,” the spokesperson said.
“The additional background information established in the form allows us to collect enhanced biographical information to begin conducting a security check while the applicant is still in Gaza. »
Miller, Canada’s immigration minister, also pointed to security concerns to justify his questions. “These are details we need. We don’t know who these people are; they are not Canadians, they are not permanent residents,” he told CBC last week.
“Anyone who has ever immigrated to Canada knows that there are a lot of intrusive questions and that coming to Canada – to be quite frank – is not a right. I do think, however, that we have an obligation to do something about this humanitarian catastrophe,” Miller said.
“A lot of sympathy for the people who have to go through this – I can’t imagine the situation they are in. But we need assurances about who we’re going to date, and those details I admit can often be intrusive. »
“Absurd, unacceptable”
However, Julia Sande, human rights law and policy activist at Amnesty International Canada, contrasted Canada’s response to the Israeli war in Gaza with its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. .
Just weeks after Ukraine’s war began in 2022, Ottawa launched a special immigration pathway to allow Ukrainians and their immediate family members – including those with no ties to Canada – to seek security in the country.
There was no limit to the number of applicants. Some fees and other procedures were waived, and more than 210,000 Ukrainians have since arrived in Canada through the program, according to government figures.
“The program for the fleeing Ukrainians was something, I suppose, unusual when compared to the historical programs in Canada, but it was wonderful,” Sande said. “It showed that Canada is more than capable of opening its arms and welcoming people fleeing dangerous situations. »
Yet in the case of Gaza, Sande pointed out that the Canadian government has erected additional barriers for Palestinians “knowing that they are fleeing abominable levels of suffering.”
“On what basis do we treat civilians in Gaza differently? What assumptions are made about them? » asked Sandé. The process, she said, raises concerns about racism and the possibility of “Gazans being portrayed as a security threat.”
“The demand to explain the scars when you are a population that has been subjected to incessant bombing, to which Canada itself can contribute through its arms exports to Israel – it is absurd, it is unacceptable “, she said.
For Alhamadni, the wait drags on. Her family’s visa applications are still in the early stages of the application process, and Alhamadni continues to worry that visas will be issued too late, if at all.
“My family is the (entire) world. My family is everything to me,” he said. “I can’t wait a minute. In a minute, something will happen. A bomb will come.
Yet despite the obstacles, Alhamadni – who is raising money to help pay for his loved ones’ visa applications and their trips to Canada – stressed he has not given up hope.
“I believe that one day we will have our freedom,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “One day the light will come. One day we will see a better future.