Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to say that I too agree with what my colleague, Mr. Telegdi, just said. We need to find a way to make the work done by the IRB much more stable and ensure that appointments are made on the basis of merit or qualifications, that members are not always facing the possibility of not having their mandates renewed or not being able to continue their work. I think that continuity makes people feel like they are contributing and produces a sense of great satisfaction. So, we must find a way to ensure that these decisions are more stable to ensure a sense of continuity.
You probably are already aware that the backlog continues to grow and that the waiting is getting longer. However, the lives of refugees do not stop once they have been allowed to stay. All the paperwork that follows takes an extremely long time too. Among other things, it takes a long time for the permanent residency applications of successful refugees to be processed and for the family to be reunited. We are talking about approximately 18 months.
People in my riding, pharmacy technicians, professionals, have been admitted as refugees. Some come from the Congo, others from other regions. Yet, the waiting periods are even longer still in some African countries.
What could you bring to the IRB to ensure that families are reunited much faster? Once you hand down your decision, all the administration regarding the family reunification follows. In some cases, it can take up to five or six years for families to be reunited. So, if we look at it on a time continuum, we see that from the time when the individual filed their application until the time that their family is reunited, the waiting period in some areas in Africa is six, seven or eight years. This is absolutely inhuman. However, I don't think that the public is necessarily aware of this situation.
Could you tell us why it takes six months to hand down a decision and tell us, based on your experience processing refugee applications and your experience abroad with regard to those living in refugee camps, how important is it to quickly reunite the families?