Manitoba awaiting word on incoming Gazans

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WINNIPEG — Manitoba is waiting to find out how many Gazans will come here under Canada’s temporary immigration program for 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza who have family in this country.

“We’ve indicated that we would like to know as soon as possible so we can properly respond,” Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said Thursday.

On Dec. 21, federal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller announced temporary immigration measures for those wanting to flee the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and have family in Canada to support them financially.

The federal government has since announced there will be 1,000 temporary visas. On Thursday, it said applications will be considered on a “first-come, first-served basis.”

Those who apply will need to meet eligibility and admissibility requirements before they are approved, an IRCC spokesman said in an email.

“Whatever it is they’ll be deciding, I know Manitobans have a lot of heart and we rose to these challenges before and we will do so in the future,” said Marcelino, who did not know how many Manitobans have extended family in Gaza who may apply for temporary visas.

The federal government said it may lift the cap of 1,000 depending on the volume of applications it receives once its portal opens on Jan. 9.

“We must see what the interest is, the approval numbers and the ability to facilitate eligible family members to leave Gaza and reach a safe third country,” the department spokesman said.

Manitoba expects far fewer refugees than it has taken in from Ukraine after Russia invaded that country in 2022.

Figures show the federal government approved 936,293 applications as per the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, from March 17, 2022, to Nov. 28, 2023.

Manitoba announced last year it had welcomed an estimated 12 per cent of the Ukrainians who had fled to Canada, which is more than any other province.

In response to the crisis in Gaza, Premier Wab Kinew wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Dec. 15 to say Manitoba is willing to take in those seeking refuge “from the ongoing conflict in Gaza and provide them with the sanctuary and support they require.”

That should happen in a way that allows Palestinians fleeing Gaza “to return to the region in the future,” the premier wrote, noting the objective “is not to facilitate further displacement of people, but rather to respond to the current humanitarian crisis with compassion and to help those whose lives are at risk from war and starvation.”

On Thursday, Kinew’s office said it’s waiting to gauge the uptake for temporary visas before commenting on whether Canada’s plan to issue 1,000 is enough.

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war and a housing shortage in the province, Manitoba will “respond to people in need and make sure that we’re a welcoming place,” Marcelino said.

The president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba questioned the cap of 1,000 people.

“To put a cap on it isn’t right,” Ramsey Zeid said Thursday. “How do you tell people ‘no’?” he asked.

Zeid said he knows of at least 30 Manitoba families who have relatives in Gaza, some of whom have 10 family members.

“There’s a lot of people suffering. A lot of people have been displaced and need medical aid and humanitarian aid and children who are orphans now who need help,” Zeid said. “As human beings, we have to find a solution.”

He pointed to the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians authorized to enter Canada on an emergency basis when they were under attack.

“I don’t think our government is doing enough to help the people (of Gaza),” Zeid said. “They’re doing the very bare minimum because people across the country are putting pressure on the government.”

Manitobans have the will and the capacity to welcome an influx of people escaping the horrors of Gaza, said Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association.

“Having worked with refugees since the boat people came from Vietnam to Winnipeg, I believe Manitobans, and especially Winnipeggers, have the heart and the courage to welcome Palestinians,” she said Thursday.

“Manitoba has come through before and we will do it again.”

Siddiqui noted the Gazans that Manitoba would welcome would be seeking temporary refuge.

The federal government has said permanent refugee status is not on the table because it does not condone the mass displacement of Palestinians.

This week, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said his country should “encourage migration” of Palestinians from Gaza and re-establish Israeli settlements there, echoing similar comments from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

In response, Siddiqui said: “We cannot become complicit in ethnic cleansing.”

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from The Canadian Press