Humanitarian, Refugees and Foreign Affairs

Toronto Star: Their loved ones died waiting for Canada to let them in. Now they’re pleading on behalf of others from Sudan

New Democrat MP and immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the community faces not only an onerous application process and financial pressures to sponsor loved ones but is also competing against Hong Kongers fleeing Communist China and Ukrainians seeking protection from the Russian invasion.

Not only has Ottawa reduced the humanitarian permanent residence spots from 10,000 last year to 6,900 in 2026 and 5,000 for 2027 and 2028, Kwan said it is now processing all these applications on a first-in, first-out basis. That means Sudanese would be processed last because both the Hong Kong and Ukrainian pathways were launched earlier, she added.

Sudanese applicants “are not here in Canada waiting for their permanent residence status,” Kwan told the Toronto news conference. She projected it would take about 13 years to process all these Sudanese files. 

“They’re in a war zone trying to get to safety. The government needs to act with the commensurate urgency in bringing those families to safety.”

Click image or link to read the news - https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/sudanese-resettlement-in-canada/article_4e2dcacd-24cd-4a77-bcdb-e80e27526da8.html

Media Release: Canada’s “Promise of Safety” for Sudanese Families Is Failing — Delays Have Cost Lives

Sudanese Canadian families, joined by Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan and community advocates, held a press conference today to denounce what they describe as a false promise by the federal government to reunite families and bring them to safety, as prolonged immigration processing delays continue to result in preventable deaths.
Families shared testimony of parents, children, and relatives who died while waiting for Canadian immigration approvals—despite having submitted applications under Canada’s Sudan family reunification and humanitarian pathways.

Globe & Mail: Foreign Affairs Minister voices concerns after Canadian MPs denied entry to West Bank by Israel

Six Canadian MPs were denied entry to the West Bank on Tuesday by Israeli authorities, prompting Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to publicly voice her disapproval of their treatment.

The NDP and Liberal MPs, part of a delegation of about 30 Canadians on a fact-finding visit, were prevented from entering the West Bank at the Israeli border crossing with Jordan.

Ottawa had given Israeli officials prior notification of the visit, and the MPs’ electronic travel authorizations had been approved, according to Jenny Kwan, an NDP MP who was part of the visiting group.

Ms. Anand said Canada has raised its objections with Israel about the treatment of the group.

“These are parliamentarians who were simply seeking to visit in a professional way, and my understanding is that denying their entry, with that objective in mind, is not in keeping with the bilateral relationship that we have shared with Israel over the course of a number of decades,” she said in an interview.

Ms. Kwan issued a statement saying: “Electronic travel authorizations to enter the West Bank were initially approved but were subsequently revoked on the day of our arrival. Israeli authorities cited ‘public security, public safety, or public order considerations’ as the basis for the denial.”

She said that during the trip to Jordan there had been meetings with Palestinians as well as the Canadian ambassador there. The delegation also met families living in refugee camps and with organizations delivering humanitarian assistance.

“I categorically reject the assertion that elected officials and civil society organizations engaging in humanitarian and fact-finding work pose any risk to public safety, security, or public order,” she added.

Ms. Kwan said the trip was organized to deepen delegates’ understanding by speaking to Muslim, Jewish and Christian families about their experiences.

“The use of security and public order narratives to limit legitimate fact-finding work is completely unacceptable,” she said.

Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canadian-mps-denied-entry-west-bank-israel/

Global National News: Israel denies Canadian delegation, including MPs, from entering West Bank

A delegation of 30 Canadians, including six MPs, was on its way to meet with displaced Palestinians when they were denied entry into the occupied West Bank by Israeli border agents. David Akin looks at what the group is saying about why it was turned away, and the reaction.

Click image or link to watch the news video - https://globalnews.ca/video/11580973/israel-denies-canadian-delegation-including-mps-from-entering-west-bank/

Toronto Star: Canadian delegation, including 6 MPs, say they were treated roughly, denied entry into West Bank over alleged link to Israel-designated ‘terror entity’

OTTAWA — A GTA MP says she was shoved repeatedly by Israeli border agents in what another MP described as “angry” and “aggressive” behaviour when they were denied entry into the West Bank as part of a Canadian delegation Tuesday.

The incident prompted Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to object to the “mistreatment of these Canadians,” while Israeli authorities — who control entry into the Palestinian territory — confirmed they are reviewing the incident.

Iqra Khalid, the Liberal MP for Mississauga—Erin Mills, told the Star by phone from Jordan that she was one of six parliamentarians in a group of about 30 people who were held for several hours at a border crossing, despite having already obtained electronic visas. Khalid said one of the delegates travelling with them was being questioned by several officers, and so she approached to “make sure she was OK.”

When asked to back away, Khalid said she took a couple steps back but kept a close watch on what was happening.

“An Israeli officer came up to me, to my face, and started yelling, telling me to go away,” Khalid said.

Then Khalid said the officer “shoved me into the wall,” prompting her to tell him not to touch her.

Khalid said the officer responded “I will touch you as much as I want” and then pushed her again, before another officer joined in to shove her back into an open area of the room.

“I got pushed with enough force that I almost fell backwards,” she said. “I got caught by a delegate, and a couple more delegates came and took me away before the situation escalated further.”

Anand said Global Affairs Canada was in contact with the travelling delegation.

Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/canadian-delegation-including-6-mps-say-they-were-treated-roughly-denied-entry-into-west-bank/article_aa2bba9a-4e75-42e1-8d5d-188dd836c172.html

Toronto Today: Canadian delegation denied entry into West Bank includes 21 people from the GTHA

The Canadian delegation’s trip to the West Bank was sponsored by The Canadian-Muslim Vote, a registered charity that seeks to foster political participation within Canadian Muslim communities.

The Canadian-Muslim Vote sponsored a similar trip last year which saw Liberal MPs Salma Zahid and Shafqat Ali, as well as NDP MP Heather McPherson and former NDP MPs Matthew Green and Lindsay Mathyssen visit Jordan and the West Bank.

The West Bank was chosen as the destination for the 2025 trip because of “increasing concerns around settler expansion and settler violence” in the region, Ghayyur said.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, settlers in the West Bank attacked Palestinian communities over 1,600 times this year as of Dec. 5, an average of five per day. The current olive harvest season was marked by “widespread settler violence” targeting farmers, trees and agriculture infrastructure, the UN agency said.

The “accelerated settlement building across the West Bank” and “settler violence against Palestinians” were among the reasons Prime Minister Mark Carney gave for his decision to formally recognize the State of Palestine in September.

Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/politics-government/canada-delegation-west-bank-denied-entry-21-gtha-11633418

CTV News: ‘Really unfortunate’: Six MPs denied entry to West Bank by Israeli officials

B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan said Global Affairs Canada was made aware of the trip well in advance and informed the Israeli authorities that the delegation intended to cross into the occupied West Bank.

“I certainly hope that the Canadian government will follow up,” Kwan said from Jordan. “It should come as no surprise that we were coming and why we were all going.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted to X Tuesday that Canada has expressed its “objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians while attempting to cross.”

Click image or link to read and watch the news story - https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/really-unfortunate-six-mps-denied-entry-to-west-bank-by-israeli-officials/

 

Al Jazeera: Canadian MP blocked from West Bank rejects Israel’s ‘safety concern’ claims

A Canadian lawmaker who was denied entry to the occupied West Bank, alongside fellow politicians and civil society leaders, has dismissed Israel’s claims that the delegation posed a threat to public safety.

Jenny Kwan, a Canadian MP with the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), questioned whether Canada’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state earlier this year contributed to Israel’s decision to block the group.

“How is it that members of parliament are a public safety concern?” she said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “How is it that civil society organisations who are doing humanitarian work… [are] a security concern?”

Kwan and five other MPs were among 30 Canadian delegates denied entry to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday after Israel deemed them a risk to public safety.

The delegation, organised by nonprofit group The Canadian-Muslim Vote, was turned back to Jordan at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing, which connects Jordan with the West Bank and is controlled by Israel on the Palestinian side, after an hours-long security check.

Kwan said another female MP in the group was “manhandled” by Israeli border agents while attempting to keep an eye on a delegate who was being taken for additional interrogation.

“She was shoved – not once, not twice, but multiple times – by border agents there,” Kwan said. “A member of parliament was handled in that way – If you were just an everyday person, what else could have happened?”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/16/canadian-mp-blocked-from-west-bank-rejects-israels-safety-concern-claims

CBC News: Canadian delegation, including MPs, denied entry to West Bank

Jenny Kwan, the NDP MP for Vancouver-East, was one of six members of Parliament denied entry into the occupied West Bank on Tuesday by the Israeli government, on the grounds of 'government, public security, public safety or public order considerations.' Kwan pushed back on the justification of the refusal of entry, calling it 'completely unacceptable.'

Click image or link to watch the news video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5RYyFnzpxI

Canadian Press: Liberal MP says she was shoved by Israeli officials at West Bank border crossing

OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says she was shoved several times by Israeli border officials as her delegation was denied entry to the West Bank Tuesday morning.

Ontario MP Iqra Khalid said Tuesday she was pushed after trying to check on a member of the roughly 30-person delegation who was pulled aside for additional questioning after the group had been at the Allenby Crossing for several hours.

"I wanted to stay close by because there were three or four officers that were surrounding this young woman. And so I asked if I could be part of the conversation. They said no. So I took two steps back and I just was watching," Khalid said in an interview from Amman, Jordan.

"An Israeli officer came up to me and he was yelling at my face and said, 'Go away,' and he pushed me. I took a step back into the wall and I said, 'Don't touch me, please.' And he said, 'I'll touch you as much as I want,' and he pushed me again. And at that point, another officer came and he pushed me further back."

Khalid said another member of the delegation then came and pulled her back toward the rest of the group.

Khalid said the border officials would have known she was a parliamentarian because they had taken her special passport, which looks different from the standard Canadian document.

B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan and Quebec Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, who are also part of the delegation, both told The Canadian Press they witnessed the shoving incident.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/travel/israel-blocks-canadian-delegation-including-mps-from-entering-the-west-bank/ar-AA1Stmys?ocid=BingNewsVerp