After long months of anguish, sometimes without being able to communicate with his parents for several weeks, Osama Zaqqout can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
His parents arrived on Canadian soil in Calgary on Saturday evening.
My parents are tired. They spent two long days traveling to get here, they’re going to need to get some sleep
said Osama, visibly calmed.
The last time he saw his parents in the flesh was last summer, when they spent a few months in Calgary.
However, two months before the start of a war that no one in the family had anticipated, they returned home to Gaza.
They had to be moved several times during this war
, explains the man who has himself experienced several humanitarian crises. He previously lived in a refugee camp in Gaza, and also worked for the Red Cross in Jordan, Libya and Syria.
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Osama Zaqqout’s parents, along with two of his brothers, have lived for the past 5 months in tents west of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Photo: Radio-Canada
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Ossama Zaqqout launched a fundraising campaign on the GoFundme platform in the hope of repatriating 36 members of his family to Canada.
Photo: Radio-Canada
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Ossama Zaqqout and his wife Fatma are both trained nurses. With their four children, they say they have succeeded in building “a fulfilling life in Canada”.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Ossama Zaqqout and his wife Fatma are both trained nurses. With their four children, they say they have succeeded in building “a fulfilling life in Canada”.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Osama Zaqqout’s parents, along with two of his brothers, have lived for the past 5 months in tents west of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Photo album: Gaza family reunited
The hardest part for him, he says, was having to live with the constant fear that he was not going to be able to get them there in time.
The longest I’ve gone without hearing from them is two months.
I felt helpless, and sometimes I lost hope
he admits.
More support for Gazans who want to leave
With the joy that inhabits him, to finally be reunited with his father and mother, there is a feeling of helplessness, confides Oussama Zaqqout.
He, who is also a nurse by training, is in contact with colleagues who work in hospitals in Gaza. I’m saddened that I can’t do more, but I still have some hope that I can keep everyone safe, especially my family.
His wife Fatma, their four children and he have been in Canada for five years. He is now trying to bring his extended family to the country. This is why, in January, he launched a fundraising campaign on the platform GoFundMe to bring 36 members of his family.
He has raised more than $125,000 as of this writing, but he says it’s not enough.
We raised this money with the aim of helping them to settle in upon their arrival, to find accommodation, to have a start-up fund.
, explains Ossama Zaqqout. However, there is nothing left of this money.
Everything involved the visa application process for his parents, his two brothers and their family, the costs of traveling to Egypt and accommodation, while waiting to obtain the visa, he explains.
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Ossama Zaqqout has experience in humanitarian crises. A Harvard graduate with a master’s degree in public health, he specializes in humanitarian response and has worked in emergency and disaster settings in Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Libya with, among others, the International Committee for Red Cross. He also served as head of nursing research and development at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Therefore, while he credits the Canadian government for granting visitor visas to Gaza families, he calls for more support to ensure the safe exit of families of Canadian residents or citizens who find themselves still in Gaza.
According to him, the absence of aid results in considerable financial burdens for these families.
By way of a press release, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) indicates that it has taken note cases of people leaving Gaza without help from Canada
.
Family reunification program
The government created a family reunification program in January that provides temporary asylum to parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and grandchildren of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada.
The Immigration Department initially clarified that it would only examine a thousand applications for this exceptional and temporary program.
However, in March, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that Canada would allow more people stuck in the Gaza Strip to apply for temporary asylum.
This measure does not apply to families fleeing Gaza for neighboring Egypt. They must go through other entry routes, such as temporary resident visas.
The spokesperson forIRCC Jeffrey MacDonald, however, argues that the Government of Canada provides transportation from Rafah to Cairo
.
During the stay in Cairo, the Canadian government provides food and accommodation for two days, he continues. If the temporary resident visa application is approved, individuals will have to make their own travel arrangements to Canada.
In addition, according to Mr. MacDonald, once they arrive in Canada, a member of their family who already resides in the country must guarantee to support them financially for a period of one year.
With information from Terri Trembath
