Ottawa extends special visa program so 5,000 Palestinians can join family in Canada

Immigration Minister Marc Miller has increased fivefold the number of temporary visas for Palestinians in Gaza so they can join family members in Canada, saying the situation in the war-torn enclave is “devastating.”

On Monday, Mr. Miller increased the number of visas from 1,000 to 5,000 to meet demand to exit Gaza, which for months has been bombarded by Israel.

But he acknowledged that efforts by Canada to help Palestinians leave through Egypt have been thwarted. He said although movement out of Gaza is not currently possible, “the situation may change at any time.”

People hoping to join relatives in Canada will have to have biometric tests in Cairo before they can be approved to come to Canada, and exit from Gaza must be approved by Israeli authorities.

Mr. Miller told the Commons immigration committee that before the Rafah border crossing to Egypt was closed on May 7, Canada had received “some positive signals from the Israeli government that this program would be recognized.”

He said that 2,903 applications for temporary resident visas for Palestinians in Gaza under the family special program launched in January are now being processed.

Corey Balsam of Independent Jewish Voices, who worked for Oxfam in Ramallah for several years, said Canada needs to apply more pressure on Israel to let Palestinians leave Gaza.

“Of course, 5,000 is certainly better than 1,000. But increasing the cap is not going to change the fact that the government hasn’t been able to convince Israel to let them out,” he said.

At least 180 people have managed to exit the Gaza Strip to Egypt of their own volition, including by paying bribes of thousands of dollars to cross the border, with some reaching Canada.

Mr. Miller told the committee that “having to pay exorbitant sums to leave” is unacceptable.

Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury said some people wanted to cross the border to Cairo but were being asked to pay $5,000 a person to do so by smugglers. He asked Mr. Miller if he would intervene with both the Israeli and Egyptian authorities “to put an end to those smugglers and facilitate the access of those people who are in need.”

Mr. Miller said he would never advise anyone “to pay bribes or these types of exorbitant amounts to flee a war.”

“I think it’s unfair. I think it’s unjust but I’m not going to judge someone who actually decides to do it as a result,” he said. “People that exit Rafah through their own means, we’re going to help them.”

Rafah, which borders Egypt, now houses around a million people – about half of Gaza’s population – who have fled there from other parts of the Gaza Strip. But some have left after Israel increased its military operations there earlier this month.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, a war has been waged between Israel and Hamas, triggered by attacks by Hamas fighters on Israel. Around 1,200 people were killed, and Hamas took scores of hostages.

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip since then, saying it wants to wipe out Hamas’s military brigades and free the hostages. At least 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Aid agencies have also warned of widespread hunger and shortages of medical supplies and fuel.

Mr. Miller said: “Conditions there are changing drastically day by day, making our efforts both more urgent and more challenging.”

At the committee hearing, Liberal MP Salma Zahid asked if Canada would do all it could to ensure that Palestinians who join family in Canada on temporary visas have a right to return to Gaza.

Mr. Miller said that “it would be naive to express full confidence that Canada could guarantee that return” but that Canada will do all it can to ensure this is the case “including through diplomatic means.”

“We certainly will not keep people in Canada, but with a current war going on and the massive destruction that has occurred in Gaza, obviously we would want the conditions to be such to make sure that people are safe,” he said.