The young woman felt hopeful for the first time that she might survive the terrible situation in the Gaza Strip, on the same night she thought she and her family would be killed.
Last year, Canada government said it would help bring more family members of its citizens out of the dangerous area. However, in the past month, the 20-year-old woman lost hope that the Canadian government would help her family leave due to the delays.
As the weeks passed, she and her family endured frequent attacks. On some days, when they couldn’t find canned food, the grown-ups chose to go without eating so that the kids could still have food.
In the middle of February, things got better for them. She and her family got permission to go into Egypt. Their names were on a list.
The Canadian government was not involved.
In a very desperate situation, the young woman’s family in Canada paid over $70,000 to a private company to talk with Egyptian and Israeli officials and leave the country.
The news made her family so happy that they were jumping for joy that night.
Shortly after, people in the Rafah area, which was thought to be one of the safest places, became very scared because it was bombed by Israel.
The doors and windows were blown out of a small apartment where a young woman slept with 40 other women and children.
They survived the night and as the sun came up, the family gathered their few belongings and carefully went to the border.
She didn’t realize she was really leaving her life behind until she was on the bus. After that, they would all begin again in Canada, and her family would definitely get a visa since they had escaped. But that’s what she believed.
“The young woman said in Arabic, using a translator, that we thought the only problem would be leaving Gaza, and then it would be simple. ” The Canadian Press promised not to say her name because they were worried about getting in trouble with the Egyptian or Canadian authorities.
“She begged to go to Canada because that’s our only hope. ” But that hope is almost gone.
She and her family have not heard from the Canadian government about visas, even though their legal status in Egypt is about to end soon.
At the same time, the family can’t go to work or see a doctor. Their family overseas is giving them all the help they need, and they already paid a lot of money to keep them safe.
The people in Canada feel tricked because they don’t know what will happen.
“The woman’s aunt in Canada said they tricked us. She has been trying to bring her relatives to safety since the war started in October. ” The text cannot be “rewritten in simple words” as it is not complete. Can you please provide additional details or the full text for me to help you. The Canadian Press promised not to say the aunt’s name so that people wouldn’t know who the family is.
She said the Immigration Department asked for money to apply for the program that Ottawa announced in December, but she hasn’t seen Canada doing much to help her family.
“She said Canada isn’t putting in enough effort for this program, and it’s a big question. ”
“They only come up with reasons. ”
The government started a program in January to give short-term visas to about 1,000 people in the Gaza Strip. They can go to Canada if their family there agrees to help them.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller is upset that Canada can’t help approved family members come to Egypt.
He didn’t answer right away when asked about the problems people had escaping on their own.
The government won’t tell us how many people have applied to the program that helps family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents stay in Canada temporarily. The husbands, wives, and kids of those other family members can also apply.
As of March 4, we have accepted 986 applications for processing. Only 12 people were able to leave Gaza, complete the screening process, and get permission to come to Canada, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The war started when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 airplanes crashed, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
Israel quickly attacked with planes and then sent soldiers to fight on the ground in a war that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, as reported by the Health Ministry in Gaza, run by the group Hamas.
The war made 80% of the 2. 3 million people in Gaza leave their homes, and a quarter of them don’t have enough food to eat, according to the United Nations.
Immigration lawyer Debbie Rachlis from Toronto is helping about 50 Palestinians in Egypt who escaped on their own and are now waiting for a Canadian visa. She said she knows about 100 similar cases that other lawyers are working on.
It’s sad because some people won’t be able to leave because their family doesn’t have the money or connections.
She said that people who didn’t finish the Canadian application process are worried that they may not qualify anymore.
Rani Hemaid gave a lot of money to a company to help his family leave Gaza and go to Cairo. Now they don’t have much money and are waiting to hear from the Canadian government.
He said it’s not sure if they still meet the requirements because they came before Canada’s visa program started.
In Gaza City, his sister, her husband and their five children are waiting too. They are in danger from military attacks and not having enough food to eat. Hemaid said this.
His 10-year-old nephew, Yamin, has a broken leg that can’t be fixed because all the hospitals are gone, he said.
Yamin said sorry to his mom for always being choosy about food, his uncle said.
“I will eat whatever food you give me right now,” Hemaid said emotionally from his home in Hamilton, Ontario.
Hemaid was a Palestinian Canadian who wanted to help bring the families of Canadians to safety.
When the visa program started, people called him to say thank you for his help. They said their families would be safe now, he said.
Now they are calling him to say that they wish it had never opened – the false hope has crushed them.
“We, as Palestinian Canadians, feel that the Canadian government has tricked and deceived us,” he said. “They don’t care about us. ”
He is afraid that Palestinians will remain in Gaza and may starve or die because they are unsure about the Canadian visa program.
It’s not sure who will be approved, or how much time it will take. A lot of people in Cairo don’t have enough money to live day-to-day without knowing if they will have enough money to pay for a hotel or rent a room from Airbnb.
I am really in need. “I feel very discouraged,” he said.
The rules say that if extended family members want to apply for the program, they have to be in Gaza when they apply. Yaman Marwah, a lawyer who helps people with immigration in Ottawa, said this.
Canada has not given any money or help with living to family members who are allowed to come to Canada, and they also did not reduce the cost of applying for a visa. The application fee is about $185 for each person.
People who were applying for their families had to sign a paper saying they don’t get welfare and will pay for everything themselves.
Marwah said he’s not sure if it’s better to give people hope and encourage them to fight for it, like Canada did, or to not give them any hope from the beginning and tell them we can’t help.
The young woman in Egypt said she feels more fortunate than those who are still in Gaza.
She said that simple things like taking a shower or having a bag of chips feel great, and she really just wants to go back to her normal life.
She said the Canadian government has to make this hope happen.