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e-5083 (Citizenship and immigration)

E-petition
Initiated by Amber Chisholm from Fredericton, New Brunswick

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled

Whereas:
  • As of June 2024, no Palestinians had been evacuated from Gaza through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) program “Crisis in Gaza: Special measures for extended family” to issue temporary visas to family members of Canadians;
  • An undisclosed number of applicants have been processed by IRCC but none have been approved after being sent for review to both the Egyptian and Israeli governments;
  • The arbitrary limit of 5,000 processed applications does not specify a number of approved applications and differs from similar humanitarian programs during periods of upheaval in Hong Kong, Turkey, Ukraine, and Sudan, that had no such caps; and
  • The onerous level of detail required goes above and beyond what is requested by the Egyptian or Israeli governments, with some documentation difficult to obtain when a person is displaced. These requirements have been described by some experts as “unprecedented” and likewise were not required from applicants to similar programs from the countries listed above.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to re-evaluate the IRCC program for Gaza, specifically to:
1. Remove the arbitrary limit of 5,000 processed applications;
2. Greatly reduce applicants’ personal detail requirements, including granular health information, social media accounts, and other onerous documentation;
3. End the policy of sending applicants’ names for approval to the Israeli government before accepting them to leave Gaza through the Egyptian border; and
4. Strongly call for the Israeli government to facilitate free movement of approved applicants from Gaza to Canada.
Open for signature
August 1, 2024, at 1:10 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
September 30, 2024, at 1:10 p.m. (EDT)
Photo - Jenica Atwin
Fredericton
Liberal Caucus
New Brunswick