5 days ago
Vancouver woman pleads for help for family in Gaza
Nariman Ajjur has been fighting for more than 19 months to bring her family to safety.
Her nephew was in the hospital recently; the toddler was hurt in an airstrike that killed his father and injured his mother. Ajjur says her parents and four other siblings are also trapped in the middle of Gaza's humanitarian crisis.
'It's just a racist system,' Ajjur said.
'Other crises in the world have been met with open hands with swift pathways but when it's Gaza, we have been faced by many challenges like including documentation.
'I have been forced to find the certificate for my brother to complete this application, including extensive information of background checks and even after doing all that, our families are still waiting. We have no words left. I don't know what to say to my family now. They are asking if they will get to safety soon.'
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'Inhumane': Global protests demand end to hunger crisis in Gaza
Her family completed the security screenings under Canada's Special Immigration Measures for Gaza.
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The last step is to get their biometrics done to have their visa approved.
Unfortunately, there is no place in Gaza to get that done, unless they are evacuated to a place where they can do biometrics, Ajjur explained.
She said this leaves her family stranded with more than 3,000 Gazans who've met the same requirements with family in Canada.
According to the United Nations and aid agencies, over 2.1 million Palestinians, some 90 per cent of Gaza's population, are internally displaced.
Ajjur has reached out to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, local MPs and immigration officials over the past year.
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She said she has received acknowledgements but no evacuation notice.
'I'm a mother also, I know how they are living under this war, this bombardment for almost two years and now they are not even able to get food for their kids,' Ajjur said.
'Especially if these kids are under three, it's extremely challenging to convince them that why there is no food.'
She's asking the government to step up in keeping its promise to bring Palestinians stuck in Gaza to Canada.
