e-4731 (Citizenship and immigration)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• Millions of civilian lives in Gaza are at imminent risk amidst a worsening humanitarian crisis, including over ten thousand killed and over twenty-five thousand injured;
• There has been a disturbing rise in anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia internationally;
• The protection of civilians is of utmost importance and recognized as critical in the Geneva Conventions, which Canada has ratified;
• Even when the current violence stops, millions of Palestinians will still be displaced and separated from their families abroad;
• Canadian citizens and permanent residents have beloved family members in Gaza;
• Under existing policy, these family members are subject to visa application requirements that are often impossible to meet due to limited working bureaucracy and infrastructure inside Gaza, and/or their inability to travel to a Canada visa office;
• Current policy only allows for children and spouses to be sponsored for permanent residency, excluding siblings, parents, and grandparents;
• Canada has demonstrated an ability to facilitate visa-less travel, at time of departure, for spouses and children from Gaza to Canada; and
• Canada has supported the travel and reunification of families in international crises before, such as the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel and permanent residence policy for Ukrainian nationals with family members in Canada, including siblings, children, parents, grandparents, and spouses; and
• The Canadian government can update its policies governing eligibility for travel and residency as it chooses.