Reunify the Kasken Family in Newfoundland

I am starting this campaign to help my friends Marilyn and Miran bring their brothers, Fahed and Talal, to safety from Gaza to Newfoundland.

Marilyn and Miran raised Fahed and Talal from the ages of 2 and 3 years old. They have been like mothers to their younger brothers their whole lives. As children they lived close to the beach in Gaza City and loved to go there together, eat ice cream, corn on the cob, and sweet potatoes sold by vendors. Talal, or Lulu as they call him, would build sandcastles; Fahed would knock them down. At home, Miran was the one who cooked, Marilyn read to the boys and helped them with their school work. To Marilyn and Miran these two boys are still their children.

Marilyn and Miran left Gaza in 2021 because of their human rights advocacy which left them in profound danger. Knowing that their life in Gaza would always be punctuated by aggressions and suffering, they went in search of a better life for them and their brothers, far from occupation, wars, and death. They moved to Turkey where they were accepted into the Human Rights Defenders program. The Canadian Government has established a dedicated refugee stream for Human Rights Defenders at risk who, due to intense persecution, are looking for a permanent resettlement option in Canada. Marilyn and Miran arrived in Newfoundland on Oct. 10th, 2023.

Their brothers, Fahed and Talal, have been in extreme danger since October. On November 14th they took the grave risk of fleeing Gaza City alone, leaving behind their entire family who would not be able to move as quickly or as far as these two young boys. They moved through air strikes, sniper attacks, and risked arbitrary detention, witnessing extreme violence along their route to Rafah on foot. They described the road to Rafah as a road of death. The trauma they experienced along this route is beyond words.

When Fahed and Talal arrived in Rafah they had nowhere to stay and were evacuated to Khan Younis, where the IDF began to bomb. The boys fled again back to Rafah. Everyday they move to a new place within Rafah as safety and conditions change rapidly. They are currently sleeping in a tent in this city that was built to accommodate 250,000 people but is currently home to 1.5 million displaced Palestinians. Conditions are severe, food and clean drinking water are scarce, infectious disease is rampant and the boys are often sick. Even their young and strong bodies cannot withstand the intense bombardment and lack of basic necessities.

We are working with a lawyer to get Fahed and Talal to Canada. As soon as they are permitted by the Canadian government, the boys will leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

Your donation will support the following expenses:

Please share this post, donate if you can, and let's show that we stand together as a community behind Marilyn, Miran, Fahed and Talal.

Thank you!