Canada faces a court case because of the delay in the Gaza Visa program | Gaza News

Montreal, Canada – Palestinian families sue the Canadian government because of the delay in visa It meant allowing them to escape from Israel's deadly war in Gaza and obtain temporary protection in Canada.

Filed to the Federal Court of Canada this month, on behalf of 53 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with family members in Canada, the court process claims that the country's special visa program was struck by ineffectiveness.

Hannah Marku, a lawyer in Toronto, representing the families, said that all of her clients have presented a form that is interested in visas within the first month of the start of the scheme in January 2024.

However, no one has received the unique reference codes needed to pass the next stage of the process, which is the presentation of the applications for Canadian visas to their relatives.

The prolonged delay left their relatives based on Gaza, open to “life -threatening and inhuman conditions” on the Palestinian territory, where Israel has bombed cities, neighborhoods and refugee camps for 15 months, the lawsuit said.

“There is no rhyme or reason for how codes are introduced and the fact that there is no transparency here – it is emotional torture, honestly,” Marcu told Al Jazeera.

“This is an emotional torture for the members of the Canadian family who put a financial endeavor in the belief that this would create the chance to take their loved ones from Gaza. “

Canada launched the GAZA special visa program on January 9, 2024, a few months after Israel's attacks against the coastal Palestinian enclave.

The scheme allowed Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply for enlargement of extended family members from Gaza to the country in the background warS If approved, successful candidates will receive a temporary residence of up to three years.

But from the beginning, families and immigration attorneys said the process was confusing and Included invasive questions This exceeds what is usually required, including inquiries about scars or injuries that require medical attention.

They also said that Canada did not explain why some Palestinian families received codes to submit their applications while others did not.

A spokesman for immigration, refugees and citizenship Canada (IRCC)-the Federal Immigration Department-said to Al Jazeera that he is reviewing a “large volume” of applications from the first stage and that the processing times varies depending on any case.

As of January 28, the government has accepted 4,873 applications for a Gaza visa in processing, the department said.

As of the same date, 1093 people who exited Gaza without help from the Canadian authorities have been approved to come to Canada. 645 people arrived in the country.

The program will be completed after 5,000 applications have reached the processing stage or after a final interruption date on April 22.

“Gaza movement remains extremely challenging due to factors outside Canada controlS This continues to be the main problem of how quickly we can process Gazans applications, “said IRCC spokesman.

But Marku, the Toronto lawyer, stated that her clients did not want assistance in leaving the gas or for a positive decision on the demands for a visa of their relatives; They just want the chance to be allowed to submit applications.

“They cannot continue to the next step in this process – they can't even fill in the application forms – without receiving unique reference codes,” she said.

“We just want an order from the federal court to force the federal government to give these people unique reference codes. This is what we had to argue. “

Asked about the case, IRCC told Al Jazeera that the government could not comment on specific cases due to confidential concerns.

One of the plaintiffs based in Canada in the trial, who speaks with al Jazeera, provided for anonymity for fear of retribution, said the visa scheme seems to be “created to fail and not to evacuate people” from Gaza.

“They are not serious about the process,” the Canadian government said. “They have no structured system. It's just a bad system. You have to understand things yourself, it makes no sense. “

The relatives the plaintiff hoped to bring to Canada remain in the gas which is discouragedS

A total of 48 319 Palestinians have been confirmed dead, although the Gaza Government Cabinet said the total number could reach 61 709, given the bodies that are yet to be found under the rubble.

A Shaky cessation of fire Between Israel and Hamas, performed last month, provided a brief cancellation of widespread attacks, but the enclave is in ruins, and the Palestinians face a terrible humanitarian crisis, with a lack of food and other basic supplies.

The plaintiff said that watching the destruction from afar while fighting to access the Canadian visas had had a mental influence. “Never … throughout my life (I had) to live something like this,” they added.

Meanwhile, Marku said the lawyers “work against the clock” to try to receive the application codes before the program closed in April.

The Canadian government has 30 days from the case when the case was brought on February 6 to submit its answer, and Marku said that its team hoped the federal court would agree to their accelerated arguments.

“Leaving people in Limbo, in my opinion, is almost worse than refusing them,” Maku told Al Jazeera. “In this situation, it's just cruel to do this to people.”