Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 19.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Palestinians in Canada will not be sent back to Gaza if their visas expire while the war between Israel and Hamas rages, Immigration Minister Marc Miller told a Commons committee on Tuesday.
Mr. Miller also told MPs on the committee that he has asked his team at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada “to be as flexible as it can” when it comes to allowing family members in Gaza to join their relatives here under reunification schemes.
He was responding to questioning from NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan who asked the minister whether he would extend the visas of Palestinians in Canada so they are not sent back to Gaza during the war once they expire.
“We can do that. We can extend the visas,” Mr. Miller replied in a hearing before the Commons immigration committee.
The Hamas-led Health Ministry said more than 5,790 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the war with Israel began, with at least 16,290 wounded.
Israeli warplanes have struck targets across the Gaza Strip as the country prepares for a ground offensive.
Israel’s action follows an incursion by Hamas militants earlier this month and the killing of more than 1,400 people in Israel, including women and children living on kibbutzim and young people at a music festival. Hamas also kidnapped more than 200 people and took them as hostages to Gaza, Israel says. Four hostages – two American citizens and two elderly women – have since been released.
Eight trucks containing water, food and medicine have now arrived in Gaza from Egypt, to address what aid agencies warn is an unfolding humanitarian crisis.
Hamas strikes Israeli cities in massive rocket assault as Gaza death toll rises
Ms. Kwan asked Mr. Miller if, in light of the crisis, his department could also speed up the processing of applications from Palestinians living in Canada for family members from Gaza to join them here. She said applications were made before the war but anxious Canadian residents with family in Gaza are still waiting for a response.
Mr. Miller said he understood the worry “about loved ones in Gaza” and said he has asked officials to expedite files and “be as flexible as it can” when it comes to uniting family members.
But he said it was very difficult to operate in Gaza currently, although Ottawa was “doing its utmost to safeguard Canadians and family members” there.
Ms. Kwan suggested that residents of Gaza should be treated in the same way as Ukrainians who have been allowed to come to Canada during the war with Russia, saying it “is not any different.”
The Immigration Minister also heard concerns that Afghans living under the Taliban who are trying to escape the impoverished country risk being forgotten with wars raging in other parts of the world.
Mr. Miller said Canada is close to welcoming the 40,000 Afghans it had promised to resettle. But he pledged Ottawa would not close the doors to more Afghans once the target had been reached.
“The taps will not be shut off at 40,000,” he said.
Mr. Miller said addressing issues affecting international students, including education agents giving them false hope that studying in Canada was a certain route to permanent residence, was one of his top priorities since taking on the portfolio in the cabinet shuffle this summer.
A possible cap on the number of international students was floated this summer at a cabinet retreat by Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who was Mr. Miller’s predecessor in the immigration portfolio. Mr. Fraser said the exponential increase in numbers has put pressure on rental markets.
But Mr. Miller said it he did not favour capping the number of international students. He also said he thought Canada’s immigration targets need to be maintained. Last year, Ottawa announced an immigration plan that would see Canada welcome 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025.