Palestinian families are suing the Canadian government after a temporary scheme that grants visas to Palestinians from Gaza with family ties to the country has been beset by delays.
The scheme has come under fire for its complexity and ineffectiveness in issuing visas.
Marku and Lee, an immigration and refugee law firm in Toronto, filed a case on 6 February on behalf of 53 Palestinian families who are currently in the Gaza Strip to ask the Federal Court of Canada to process the applications without delay.
The firm says half their clients are children, the youngest of whom is seven months old. They expressed concern that the Canadian government had let the applications “sit in limbo” while conditions in Gaza had progressively worsened and the enclave had become uninhabitable since the scheme was launched more than a year ago.
They said their clients’ Canadian family members had petitioned on behalf of their relatives within a month of the application, and their applications had not yet proceeded to the next stage. The Canadian families petitioning on behalf of their relatives remain concerned for their family members’ lives.
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Hana Marku, a partner at the law firm, said in a press release, “Despite their urgent need for protection, the Canadian government has allowed their applications to sit in limbo, taking no action while these families continue to suffer.
“While waiting, our clients have been exposed to life-threatening and inhumane conditions in the Gaza Strip. All of our clients have had their homes bombed to the ground. They have been subjected to repeated air strikes and starvation. They have fallen ill or been injured, with no access to medical treatment.”
The visa programme was initially launched on 9 January 2024 by Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Marc Miller to enable Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to bring extended family members from Gaza to Canada during Israel’s war on Gaza, which started in October 2023 and has killed at least 48,000 people.
The scheme requires that the Canadian family bringing over relatives can financially support them. The pathway will close on 22 April or when it reaches 5,000 applications. To date, 4,782 applications have already been processed, which leaves little time for the clients who are still waiting for their applications to be processed.
“Despite their urgent need for protection, the Canadian government has allowed their applications to sit in limbo, taking no action while these families continue to suffer,” the press release said.
Successful applicants who are approved will receive temporary residency for up to three years.
“Our clients are asking the Federal Court of Canada to issue an order compelling the government to process the pending applications of these families without further delay,” Marku and Lee said.
