Her husband and kids were given safe passage to Canada. She's living in a tent in Gaza

CBC

12-05-2025

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A Gaza man who arrived in Ottawa with his three children last month is now pleading with Canadian authorities to help their mother join them.
Qasem Alyazji, 42, and his children left Gaza in early April through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern part of the Palestinian territory after the family home was destroyed in a bombing.
The family crossed into Jordan and then flew to Canada. But Alyazji's wife, 37-year-old Doaa Nashwan, remains in Gaza, living in a tent.
Earlier this year, when the family got an email from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) office in Jordan saying Canada was working with local authorities to evacuate them from Gaza, they were ecstatic.
The family had applied for visas through IRCC's special measures for extended family members in Gaza. Alyazji had applied with the help of his brother who lives in Toronto.
But their happiness was short-lived when they realized Nashwan's name was missing from the list of those approved to cross the Gaza border.
If nothing happens ... I can't [be] sure that I'll be alive the next day.
"The first minutes [after] my sister got the email, she called me right away and she was really so happy about it," said Asil Nashwan from the suburban Ottawa home she rents with her parents, another sister and now also Alyazji's family.
It didn't take Doaa long, however, to spot the problem.
"She realized that her name wasn't included in the email," Asil said. "It was the father's name and the three children, but not hers."
"My children at this time begin crying," said Alyazji, sitting across the kitchen table and reading a prepared document from his phone, at times pausing when he could no longer suppress his tears.
The couple ultimately decided they wanted their children to be safe, and so Alyazji left Gaza with them — but not his wife.
"The kids didn't want to leave at the first time. Everyone was crying," said Asil. "They don't want to leave their mom behind.
"She wanted to save her kids ... so she picked them over her. She [chose] to stay behind and send her children away."
'I thank God that I'm still alive'
Gaza's residents are facing a growing humanitarian crisis, with Israel enforcing a months-long blockade on aid supplies to the small Palestinian enclave in the third year of its war against militant group Hamas.
"Every day is a danger [to] my life," said Doaa Nashwan during a short phone call with CBC, with her sister translating. "Every day that comes, I thank God that I'm still alive."
"If nothing happens ... I can't [be] sure that I'll be alive the next day."
Doaa remains in Gaza because she was unable to complete a temporary resident visa requirement to receive approval to leave Gaza through Canada's special extended family program.
That program, which is not permanent and is capped at 5,000, is not taking any more applications.
Canada requires applicants between the ages of 14 and 79 to submit a photograph and fingerprints before they can be evacuated. Those biometrics allow the Canadian government to complete a security screening.
Alyazji's biometrics were already on file as he had previously applied for a visa and his children are young enough not to need one.
But for applicants like Doaa who still need to submit fingerprints and a photograph, the only option for doing that is in a third country.
On its website, the IRCC says it will allow people who've completed their other application requirements to leave Gaza to file their biometrics. But in a statement to CBC News, the department suggests even if Canada is on board with someone's application, it's not that simple.
"Canada continues to put forward names of people who passed preliminary eligibility and admissibility reviews to local authorities for approval but does not ultimately decide who can exit Gaza," the statement reads.
"The Government of Canada remains actively engaged with diplomatic partners at all levels to help facilitate the departure of extended family members and to advocate for their safety."
Canada too slow to evacuate people, says advocate
According to IRCC, as of April 27, 1,177 people have been approved to come to Canada through the special extended family program for people in Gaza, with 811 having already arrived.
"At least 525 people who fled Gaza have been approved outside of the public policy for a temporary resident visa or temporary resident permit," the IRCC added.
Critics like Matthew Behrens, however, say Canada is moving too slowly.
"The Canadian government, from the very beginning of this program, has acted as an obstacle to the evacuation of the loved ones of Palestinian Canadians," said Behrens, co-ordinator for the Rural Refugee Rights Network.
While other countries like Australia, Ireland and Iceland have been able to more quickly get family members out of Gaza, Canada "has not shown any real initiative," Behrens said.
"You [can] compare it to the Ukraine program, where we were processing about 1,400 applications a day. On average, Canada has processed two applications a day in the Gaza program," he said.
"That negligence has resulted in the deaths of individuals who could be living full and loving lives here in Canada."
Meanwhile, Doaa's three children are already attending school in Ottawa, but their father says it's been difficult.
"Every day in the morning they cry and [say they] need mom. And I don't know — what can I do?" said Alyazji, who remains hopeful his family can be reunited.