Afghanistan Committee on Feb. 14th, 2022

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

There's another question I'd like to ask.

For many people, the requirement of having to fill out all these forms, even if in a third country, within 14 days, is an almost impossible task for people. People can't access computers. There are language barriers and so on.

Would you support the call for the government to waive all of these application process requirements and to pause them, so to speak? Once people get to safety on Canadian soil, then they can always go back and fill out these forms and go through that process.

[Asma Faizi]

Certainly, any administrative barriers that have been put in place need to be alleviated. As I said, we were able to bring in 25,000 Syrians in 100 days.

As far as we know, there are about 7,000 people who have come to Canada so far. There is a dire humanitarian catastrophe. There are people at risk. Even for those who are able to get out of Afghanistan and go to third countries, with the horrific conditions under which they get to the countries and the horrific conditions in those third countries, the fear of being deported and the fear of being persecuted because they're going to be returned to Afghanistan, human dignity requires the world to see what's going on and to alleviate these administrative burdens on people who are at risk.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

One of the issues is about sponsorship. Aside from the private sponsorships, should the Canadian government be opening up family sponsorship for extended families? There are many Afghans who have Canadian family members here, but the sponsorship requirement is only for parents and grandparents or spouses and dependent children. Should the Canadian government open that up to extended family members?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Madam Kwan. Your time is up.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Chair, could I get a quick response?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Yes. Please, go ahead.

[Asma Faizi]

Yes, definitely. They did it for the interpreters who came and their families. They expanded the definition of extended family. If it could be extended, it would be great, but we understand that the Canadian government has been expediting some of these family reunification cases. We thank them for doing that, but to expand the criteria would be very helpful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

You are on mute, Chair.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I think he said it's my turn.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

No, it's not. [Inaudible—Editor]

There are six minutes left. We'll do two minutes, two minutes, one minute and one minute. That will be the round.

I'll go ahead with—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

As I understand it, the next round is a Conservative round for five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I understand, but I was going to be fair—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

What's fair is that all members on the committee get equal time proportionate to their standings in the House of Commons and according to the routine motions adopted by this special committee at its first meeting, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

That's why, Mr. Chong, I was giving two minutes to Conservatives, two minutes to Liberals, one minute and one minute.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

With respect, Mr. Chair, both the New Democratic and Bloc Québécois members on this committee have had a full round. I've not yet had a full round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Okay.

Mr. Chong, go ahead for five minutes.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The motion establishing this committee was both forward looking and backward looking.

The forward-looking element of the motion was to examine the humanitarian assistance that's required on the ground. To that end, I'd like to ask about United Nations Security Council Resolution 2615, which was sponsored by the United States and calls for a carve-out to the sanctions against the Taliban for humanitarian assistance.

My question is twofold. First, has the resolution been implemented in Canada; if not, what is the expected timeline for implementation? What other countries have implemented Resolution 2615 to date?

This is for any of the witnesses.

[Erica See, Senior Legal Counsel, Canadian Red Cross]

I don't think I can answer your question as to the current status in Canada. I could speak to the second part of your question regarding the implementation of UN Resolution 2615 in Canada.

As the honourable member is undoubtedly aware, that resolution was passed in the very closing days of 2021. I believe that member states are in the process of implementing the measure in alignment with their own domestic implementation—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Can you tell us which other countries have implemented Resolution 2615 in their national policies?

[Erica See]

It's a very good question. The implementation methodology has varied by jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, there were preliminary statements that were offered to clarify the implementation.

For example, in Australia, they made a government statement in the lead-up to and in recognition of the fact that regulations tend to take time to be revised.

As you mentioned, the United States was involved in the proposal of the resolution itself. They took the time immediately thereafter to partially implement a finance-oriented, what they call the general licence of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

It really varies by jurisdiction.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Sure. I appreciate that.

If you have any more information on that, could you transmit it to the clerk of the committee for all members? I would appreciate that.

[Erica See]

Of course.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I'd like to ask a more backward-looking question, since the motion adopted by the House ordering this committee to be set up asked us to study what went wrong in the evacuation of people from Kabul by Canada before and during the fall of Kabul.

NATO evacuated some 70,000 people leading up to August 25. For example, the United Kingdom, one of the NATO members, evacuated over 11,000 people in the weeks leading up to August 25. The Government of Canada appears to have been slow and disorganized in evacuating people from Kabul in the period leading up to the end of August. It looks like some 2,000 to 3,000 people were evacuated in the weeks leading up to the end of August.

My question is twofold. Can any of the witnesses here tell us if they brought this issue to the attention of the government before the fall of Kabul, and when they did that? Can you provide a general comment on the government's evacuation efforts in the period ending at the end of August of last year?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

You have 30 seconds to provide an answer, please.

Go ahead, anyone. Raise your hand and I will acknowledge you.

Mr. Chong, did you have a particular witness you wanted to answer the question?