Immigration requirements for Gazans are onerous and unfair

Rather than make it easy for people in Gaza to find safety, the Canadian government is creating unnecessary barriers. The form provided to those trying to flee Gaza from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada asks questions beyond what it requests from other refugees, including asking for all previous passport information, past phone numbers, social media accounts, employment history since the age of 16, and details about "any scars or injuries." As an immigration lawyer, I have never seen anything like this. Particularly difficult is the demand for full employment history, which most of us would have difficulty recalling, let alone in a war zone. Given that 70 per cent of houses in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, collecting previous passports will be almost impossible. While some of this information was asked from those fleeing Afghanistan—a move that was rightly criticized—even they were not asked for their social media accounts. Worse, the Canadian government will be providing lots of this information to Israel. Even Russians—whose government Canada has sanctioned and accused of genocide—are not being asked these questions when applying for a visa. Aidan Simardone is an immigration lawyer based in Toronto. Photograph courtesy of Aidan Simardone The government argues this data is needed for security reasons. Yet, within any conflict, there are always violent extremist groups. The Azov Battalion is a neo-Nazi military group fighting in Ukraine with up to 2,500 members. Rather than suspect every Ukrainian of being a neo-Nazi, the Canadian government decided to allow an unlimited number Ukrainians to come to Canada. Violent extremism from immigrants is rare. In fact, if you look at some of the most recent terrorist attacks in Canada, such as the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting and 2018 Toronto van attack, the perpetrators were born in Canada. For this reason, in the case of Ukraine, humanitarianism trumped security concerns. This humanitarianism, however, has not been extended to Palestinians. While Canada has accepted over 200,000 Ukrainians since the Russian invasion began, the government has agreed to only accept 1,000 Palestinians. While the government said it will revisit the cap, it has not yet been eliminated. This is despite the fact that more civilians have been killed in Gaza in the last three months than in Ukraine since Russia invaded it two years ago. Unfortunately, this reflects Canadian immigration policy, where Western countries and Canada’s allies are given more favorable immigration pathways than those from the Global South. Visa-free travel is extended to all of Europe, while many countries in Africa and Asia are excluded. A report from Parliament found that racial prejudice results in higher refusal rates for those outside of Europe. Some may point to Canada’s generous policy towards those fleeing Syria. But even here, the government denied entry to single men who were treated as a security threat. Because of these double standards, I warn my clients from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia that they are less likely to be approved than if they were from a Western country. Rather than challenge these double standards, the government has given in to them. “I don't think Canadians would forgive us if we let in someone that was not the person we wanted to be, and turned out to be a terrorist,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller, justifying the immigration requirements for Palestinians. What Miller fails to note is that racial prejudice often clouds this fear of terrorism. Terror attacks from Muslims receive three times more media attention than those done by white supremacists. For many, “terrorism” is synonymous with “Muslim,” despite the fact that Muslims are often the victim of white supremacist terrorist attacks. We cannot let these public fears dictate immigration policy. The Canadian government has said it will show flexibility around the immigration requirements. Yet, nowhere within the immigration process is this stated. Canada cannot have it both ways: claiming that the process is necessary because of the security risk, but not strictly required to be followed. Better would be to simply get rid of these requirements as was done for Ukrainians who were fleeing war. Canada has taken in millions of people fleeing war. Despite the extremist groups that exist in these conflicts, the government has often dropped barriers, recognizing that it is more important to save lives than to fret about security concerns that are rarely borne out. Unfortunately, this humanitarianism has not been extended to everyone. Our government should put an end to these double standards and drop its invasive questioning of Palestinians who want to flee. Aidan Simardone is a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, and the head of Simardone Law. The Hill Times