After escaping Gaza, this woman says her brothers' evacuation to Canada is stuck in limbo

Marilyn, right, and Miran Kasken are working to get their brothers, Fahed and Talal, accepted into Canada. The sisters are living in Newfoundland, while the brothers are stuck in Egypt. (GoFundMe)

A Palestinian woman living in St. John's says her family is stuck in limbo as they wait for updates as to when their brothers who escaped from Gaza can come to Canada.

Marilyn Kasken and her sister, Miran, have been working for months to get their brothers, Talal, 20, and Fahed, 21, to safety from the Israel-Hamas war. Marilyn recently travelled to Cairo, where she paid $10,000 US in crowdfunded money to a company connected with the Egyptian regime in order to help get the brothers out of Gaza.

While speaking from Toronto, Marilyn told CBC News that she was relieved to see her brothers after they escaped Gaza.

"It was very, very emotional and beautiful," Marilyn said. "I was so grateful that they are safe and they are [in Egypt]."

But that was the last positive development. Both brothers remain in Egypt.

Marilyn said there's been no developments on whether or not they'll be able to come to Canada and she's tried to find out details from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to little success.

"They were supposed to submit their passports to get the visa, and then to travel from Cairo to Newfoundland, but this didn't happen," she said.

In January, the federal government announced a temporary resident visa program for Palestinians with extended family in Canada.

In April, CBC News reported that no one has been evacuated from Gaza under the program, which Immigration Minister Mark Miller called a "failure."

"I called IRCC to make sure that this is right, and yeah, they affirmed that they don't have any obvious way to evacuate the people from Gaza. So knowing that we have to do it ourselves was so hard and took me so much energy and money," Marilyn Kasken said.

"I'm wondering since the government didn't do anything for evacuating them and we did it ourselves, why they're not making it easier for them to arrive to Canada. Like we did the hard part."

Miran, left, and Marilyn Kasken are holding out hope that their two brothers will one day be able to join them in St. John's. (William Ping/CBC)

Kasken said the constant worrying has affected her brother — who now questions if he'll even make it to Canada at all.

"My brother's feeling so unsafe," she said. "No one knows why it's taking so much time."

Kasken is calling on the federal government to step up and help those in "immediate need," saying officials should make the same commitment it made to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

"Comparing it with what's happening now with us is so disappointing. We can't understand why it's taking that long," she said.

"How are they expecting people who came from absolute damage and trauma to be able to function and start from zero…with no help?"

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