A Montreal family mourns the death of their 13-year-old daughter in Gaza

A Montreal family is grieving the death of their 13-year-old daughter in Gaza while waiting to come to Canada.

According to the family of Jana El-Kahlout, she died undernourished and without medicine.

Her father, Mahmoud El-Kahlout, said: “Due to the war, the roads and communications to Yana's place were cut off, even though she had permission to travel.”

Despite the best efforts of the El-Kahlout family to evacuate their daughter from Gaza to Montreal during the Israel-Hamas war, she died on January 8.

Jana was in Gaza with her family but wanted to come to Montreal.

“At the beginning of December, we received permission from Global Affairs to transfer Jana to Canada, but her health deteriorated,” explained El-Kahlout. “He was born with cerebral palsy and was taken to a specialized hospital for disabled children. Then, even though Jana had permission to travel, communication and roads were cut off because of the war.'

The family hopes that the case of the daughter of other Palestinians in Canada who tried to bring their families from Gaza will not happen again.

EL-Kahlout's said the process of bringing Jana back was delayed for several years before the outbreak of war on October 7.

Jana El-Kahlout (Courtesy: EL-Kahlout Family)

“IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has been delayed for no reason. Our document was completed and accepted as asylum two years ago, but we still haven't received a permanent residence permit. “We informed them that Jana was in Gaza even before the war, but there was no response.”

The temporary visa program for Palestinians, announced by the federal government in December and effective in January, is limited to permanent residents and citizens of Canada. It states that applicants will be required to have up-to-date passports and the results of biometric tests such as fingerprints and photographs for facial recognition. They must also demonstrate that they have been supported by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for one year. Successful applicants will receive a temporary visa for three years. The government limited the number of successful applicants to 1,000, citing the instability of the situation in Gaza and the obstacles faced in getting people out.

EL-Kahlut said he still has family in Gaza who want to help.

“I would like to send a message to the Canadian immigration people to complete my file to help me stay permanently and help my family in Gaza. My brother and his wife also became homeless in Egypt.''

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) says in an email to OMNI News that it is aware of Jana's death and that their “hearts go out to the family and their loved ones.”

“GAC staff have been in direct contact with his family and have provided assistance. No further information can be released due to privacy concerns,” writes John Babcock, GAC spokesman.

“We will continue to contact Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their eligible family members in Gaza through all available channels, and we will continue to contact their loved ones in Canada, although contact is difficult. Canada will submit the names of Canadians, permanent residents and their eligible family members to local authorities for approval, but will not decide who will leave Gaza. Global Affairs Canada continues to support the approval of Canadians, PR representatives and their eligible family members to leave Gaza as soon as possible.

“Canada is deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and continues to call for the rapid, sustained and unhindered flow of critical aid to reach those in need. We call on all parties to respect international humanitarian law.”

Luay El Hajj, an immigration legal consultant and founder of Get in Canada, says humanitarian cases like Jana's case should have been handled sooner.

“I believe there is a backlog in the IRCC files, we understand the delay, but they could have done more and better for humanitarian reasons, there are exceptions and they can use such an exception to process it to Yana. To come to Canada, unfortunately, he died.”