GAZA REFUGEES NEED PERMITS

Canada must unite these Gaza refugee families immediately. I have just completed two 24-hour fasts in support of 10 Gaza refugee families who urgently need early entrance temporary resident permits. There are 22 children and 10 spouses in Gaza who have already suffered a devastating two- to three-year separation from their parent or spouse in Canada, all of whom are Palestinian refugees whose permanent residence applications are pending. Due to COVID-19, these refugees’ permanent resident papers are unlikely to be processed for about three more years. It is unconscionable that these children and partners, who live in mortal danger in Gaza, cannot come to Canada immediately. Last month, UN secretary general António Guterres declared: “If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza.” A 2020 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry found that among Palestinian children and adolescents in the Gaza Strip, nearly 90 per cent had experienced personal trauma and more than 80 per cent had witnessed trauma to others. Needless to say, that trauma has been compounded by the most recent military violence. It is impossible to imagine the terror, stress and dread that these children and parents are living with. Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has the power and the responsibility to reunite these families immediately. In October 2020, IRCC Minister Mendicino tweeted: “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.” We call on him to act on these words and issue early entrance temporary resident permits to these families immediately.

Mary Cowper-Smith Charlotttetown, P.E.I.