The federal government has officially launched its special immigration measures program for extended family members of Palestinian Canadians trying to escape the war in Gaza, allowing 1,000 of them to move to Canada temporarily…from the CBC.
The federal government has officially launched its special immigration measures program for extended family members of Palestinian Canadians trying to escape the war in Gaza, allowing 1,000 of them to move here on a temporary basis.
The program's website went live Tuesday afternoon. It says applicants are required to have up-to-date passports and results of biometric tests, such as fingerprints and photos for facial recognition. They must also show they will be supported by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for a year.
Successful applicants will receive temporary visas good for three years.
The government has capped the number of successful applicants at 1,000, citing the volatile situation on the ground in Gaza and the obstacles it has faced in getting people out.
In an interview with CBC's
Power and Politics on Tuesday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the government would show some flexibility.
"It would be pointless to shut things down once a thousand applications come in of varying quality," he said.
"We want to get a sense of what that volume is and we will be flexible. You know, we don't have a sense of what the numbers are that we're dealing with. We're speculating."
The National Council of Canadian Muslims, which had been advocating for such a program, has said it is in contact with the families of more than 1,000 potential applicants.
Refugee advocates have criticized some of the program's requirements.
The process starts with Palestinian Canadians providing a sworn statement attesting they can support their relatives financially for up to a year after their arrival, and help them access social services and schooling.
That statement has to be notarized — a requirement not previously publicized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The Palestinian-Canadian community has mobilized to welcome far more than 1,000 applicants — a number she said represents a fraction of the demand, given the census estimates the number of Palestinian Canadians at close to 45,000.
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