Afghanistan committee  That's absolutely the case. The minister does have the authority to authorize a TRP with respect to a particular population, in terms of emergency settlement or situations of crisis such as this. TRV or TRP, travel visas or permits, either way, would assist Afghans to get to Canada and follow up with the rest of the process while in this country.

Afghanistan committee  Yes.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you. Yes, definitely. The problem with the third countries is that after a certain amount of time, they will be deported. They would not extend their stay in that country. While they're waiting, they will be sent back and basically handed to the Taliban. In fact, I had one individual, a single mom with two children, who fled to Iran.

Afghanistan committee  That's correct.

Afghanistan committee  To me, it's mind-boggling that the government is so firm in not waiving this requirement. Back in August, I actually wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister and the other ministers involved. It was submitted to them. That was one of my recommendations right at the outset. Subsequently, at every meeting we've had, this issue was raised, and we were promised that likely they would think about the technicalities and get back to us, but so far it hasn't been done.

Afghanistan committee  —but they can't do it because of this.

Afghanistan committee  Honourable member, my first priority is ensuring that the recognition under UNHCR for each refugee be waived, be eliminated, as was done in the past. In fact, this is not something that was in the law in the past. It's only in the past decade or so that this came to be. We've always made exceptions in certain circumstances.

Afghanistan committee  I guess Canada is learning from its mistakes of the past seven or eight months. It's learning how to handle an emergency situation, and that's good. However, at the same time, we should not forget the initial crisis. We can't just start something and then move on to the next crisis.

Afghanistan committee  —particularly the ones who have sacrificed their lives in the past 10 years for the cause of democracy and human rights. They have dedicated themselves, committed to and supported our mission.

Afghanistan committee  Absolutely.

Afghanistan committee  I'm in agreement with Ms. Moloney. Family reunification can be done quite easily. The definition of family, the way it is currently done in Canada, is quite restrictive. We're a very small group of individuals who actually fall under the word “family”, whereas, as was stated earlier, the family in the context of the Afghan culture is quite big.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee. I appear before you as an Afghan Canadian lawyer who himself once was welcomed to Canada as a refugee, back in the 1980s. That was when Afghanistan was actually invaded by the then Soviet Red Army, much like the tragedy we witness in Ukraine today.