Achi news desk-
It was a long-awaited reunion at Calgary International Airport on Saturday as Ossama Zaqqout hugged his parents, who had just arrived after fleeing the war in Gaza.
Zaqqout had been trying for months to get his parents to safety.
“My parents have been displaced several times within Gaza,” Zaqqout said.
“About two months I have not heard at all from my parents and my family, because of communication problems, and there is no internet, there is no communication,” he said.
It also marked the first arrival from that region of Calgarian family members coming as family-sponsored refugees.
“It’s a mixed feeling. I am overwhelmed with happiness to see my father,” said Zaqqout.
“I am shocked to know that the Government of Canada is not going to offer us much support.”
This family, like many others, received no support from the government to navigate the logistics of exit fees, which can cost upwards of $6,800 Canadian. Refugees are also responsible for paying other costs, such as accommodation in Egypt while they wait for their visas to be approved.
The financial burden of escaping the violence has prompted many in the Palestinian community to call on the Canadian government to do more to support the safe exit of residents and citizens trapped in Gaza.
The last six or seven months have been overwhelming and full of anxiety for Zaqqout and his family.
“To wake up every day, knowing that a cousin has been killed or injured, a family member has been affected — my wife lost 11 members of her family — to know that a friend or colleague I was I used to work with them in the The past has also killed or injured, it has become a daily routine for us and that is not healthy,” he said.
Zaqqout’s brother and his family received their visas and are expected to arrive in Calgary in mid-May.
He remains hopeful that members of his wife’s family will also get their visas soon and make their way to Canada by the end of May.
