The application process is complicated, and requires Palestinians to even include the origin of every scar and injury on their body, a request that was never used before for other programs, Mansour said. If the applicants later end up with more scars or injuries not included in the original application, this may also invalidate their application.
Omar Mansour, founder of the advocacy group, said that the government has made exceptions to mandatory requirements in previous programs. For example, Canada waived its pre-arrival medical examinations for Ukrainians arriving during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this was done in huge numbers, as nearly a million visas were approved.
More than 900,000 applications were approved under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel Program, with nearly 300,000 Ukrainians arriving in Canada over a span of two years, according to Amnesty International.
Anything that any Canadian government does regarding Palestine and Palestinians is going to be performative PR. Don’t trust any Canadian politician on this regardless of their election lawn signs’ colours.