TRENTON, Canada

Eleven families from Gaza have launched a lawsuit against the Canadian government alleging delays in temporary visas meant to provide relief from the Israel-Hamas war, the Toronto Star reported Wednesday.

The plan gives Gazans with Canadian relatives a path to escape the war. The Canadian relatives must be willing to support those who come to Canada and the sponsors must also be Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

All the families’ Canadian relatives say they have followed the procedure with the immigration department, but no code has been assigned the Gazan families, who represent 53 people, including children. The code kickstarts the application process.

The Palestine extended family program was launched in January 2024. The families say they completed the paperwork within a month of the launch and cannot understand why approval has not been forthcoming, nor have they been informed of any delay or outright rejection and are in limbo, fearing for their relatives in Gaza.

The temporary visa program is slated to shut down on April 22, or once 5,000 applications have been filed. Immigration officials say 4,782 applications had been accepted as of Jan. 4. But not these families.

“They were afraid that they would lose their opportunity,” lawyer Damey Lee told the Toronto Star.

Lee represents the families along with lawyers Hana Marku and Debbie Rachlis.

“They are just frustrated and wholly disappointed in the Canadian government for not even providing them an explanation as to where their family members are in the process and why it has taken a year to issue codes.”

The families filed the lawsuit in the hope of compelling Canadian immigration officials to process the applications within five days if the ruling is in favor of the families.