As Gazans slowly start to arrive in Canada, their families fear for those left behind

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Abeer Abusharar sat withher brother Oun, his wife Haneen and their son Sanadas they crowded around a cell phone in Ottawa waiting anxiously for herlittle brotherto pick up.

The phone has been Abeer's lifeline to her family in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began last October. Until veryrecently, Oun and his family were the ones on the other end of thatlifeline trying to reassurefamily members in far-off Canada as bombs exploded all around them.

"The first feeling is you finally feel safe," saidOun Abushararon Sunday, as he and his sister struggled to connect a video call with younger brotherMuhammad Abusharar and his children."You're trying to think about your future, not about just how to survive every single morning."

Oun,his wife and sonwere approved for visas to Canada under the extended family visa program launched by Immigration Minister Marc Miller in January. They landed in the Montreal airport on May 6.

They're among the lucky few very few. Miller recentlylifted the cap on applications for the extended family visa program from 1,000 to 5,000.

WATCH |Bribery was this family's ticket from Gaza to Canada

Bribery was this familys ticket from Gaza to Canada

3 months ago

Duration 2:53

Despite having Canadian relatives and approval from the government, bribery was the only way for the Abusharar family to get out of Gaza. They spoke to CBC News about their arduous journey and the agony of leaving so many behind.

But his department says thatas of this week, just 41 people havemade itto Canada under the program. The department says 254 applicantshave received their temporary residence visas and almost 3,000 applications have been acceptedforprocessing.

Abeer applied for permission to bring her brothers, their wives and children, and her parents fromGazato Canada in January. So far,only Oun and his family have made it here, despite more than ten applicationsfiled on behalf of the Abusharar family.

"It's a good feeling to be here, but it needs to be for all of us," saidOun.

Getting out wasn't easy. Oun and Haneen'sson Sanad was born inOctober, just a few weeks after the war began. His family spent months being bounced from one shelter to another before they got word that they had been approved for visas.

"You just think of how he is going to survive," Haneensaid, recalling her first months as a new mother in a small, dark room crowded with people, with no electricity.

"When we got out of Gaza, my baby was looking at the lights.He was very surprised."

In the end, money is what got them out of Gaza. Oun said he, his wife and six-month-old babyhad to pay roughly $15,000 Cdn in fees essentially bribes to border officials to pass through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. His family in Canada helped to cover the cost through an online GoFundMe campaign.

"I was only able to get one brother out of the whole family back home there," Abeersaid. "We don't have that much money to pay for the total to cross the border."

Canada has not been able to evacuate any Gazans directly from the strip;for most people, bribery is the only way out. And while the Canadian government has not encouraged Gazans to pay bribes to border officials, they say they're aware that people are exiting Gaza "on their own."

In Ottawa on Sunday,Abeerand Ounpressed close to her phoneas her brotherMuhammadand his kidsJude and Omar assuredthem over the sounds of the explosions filling the air over Gaza with noise and dust that they are still safe, still waiting to come to Canada. Then the line went dark.

"We lost everything, our homes, our jobs, everything," Muhammad later told a freelance videographer working with the CBC. "Gaza is a place not for living anymore I hope they can help us evacuate soon."

He and his family have beenapproved to recordtheir biometrics at the Canadian embassy in Cairo, an advanced step in the visa approval process. But they still don't have the money to escape the Gaza Strip.

"Sometimes I feel guilty ...I'm now safe,"Ounsaid.

Abeersaid she won't stop fighting until every last member of her familyis out of Gaza.

"I am one of so many Canadians who are trying to get their families out ... we deserve to be treated equally," she said.