Gaza refugee ‘so happy’ family can come to Hamilton
Amal Albattrawi’s husband and daughters clear to come to Canada
Five-year-old Sameer Alshaer can finally see his sisters again.
He got the news on Thanksgiving morning that his father and two sisters — who fled Gaza where they lived on one of the most heavily bombed streets and survived a raid earlier this year where the house next door to them was bombed — can come to Canada.
“I didn’t know if she was joking or kidding,” said a joyful Amal Albattrawi about when her immigration lawyer called to share the good news. The refugee was trying to reunite with her family since she fled Gaza with Sameer in February 2019 and came to Hamilton.
Albattrawi applied for permanent residency (PR) for her family in April, but worried their lives were in danger while they waited for approval. So, in June, she applied for a temporary resident permit (TRP) that would let them enter Canada while waiting for their PR applications to be processed.
When she got word Monday that the TRP application was approved, Albattrawi video called her husband, Sherif Alshaer, and daughters, Sireen, 13, and Sama, 11. She whispered to Sameer to tell them the news.
“They started to cry,” said Albattrawi.
Last month, Matthew Behrens of the Rural Refugee Rights Network told The Spectator the cross-Canada volunteer group is calling on Ottawa to issue special immigration measures for Palestinian refugees, which waive normal immigration requirements in extenuating situations. The government did the same for Afghan refugees.
It might still be a few weeks before Albattrawi’s family gets here, since they have to get visas from the local embassy. Normally, that process takes about 10 business days, but there are delays because of COVID-19.
Albattrawi is just happy they can come.
“I want to clean the house, I want to prepare the room for my daughters. So much to do!” she said. “I’m so, so happy.”
She recalls how Sameer asked about his sisters whenever she took him shopping.
“I told him, ‘I promise you next time we will go to the mall with your sisters.’ ”