Thank you very much, Pouyan and the committee, for giving me this opportunity.
I only have three minutes, but I want to state that I'm an independent individual here, independent from the Iranian government and from any organization, including the ICC. Today I am representing the delayed Iranian applications campaign.
Other than that, I'm an electrical engineer with two master's degrees, one in telecommunications and another in quantum optics. They are from Canada, the country of my choice.
Why did I choose Canada, you may ask? It was because of its merits and humanitarian values.
During the last six years that I have been living and working in Calgary, I have been contributing to this country's innovation and economic competitiveness.
Today I would like to talk about the delayed Iranian applications, a campaign built by independent, educated and talented Iranian Canadians who are advocating for one of the most important Canadian values: the right to be treated equally under the law.
Last year, hundreds of Iranian applicants living either in Canada or Iran noticed that there were extraordinary delays in processing their visa and PR applications. After a thorough analysis of publicly available governmental and self-extracted data, we were disappointed to learn that the root cause of these delays was being singled out because of our country of origin.
These delays have had huge negative impacts on our lives. Iranian applicants, many of them highly educated, with graduate degrees in science and innovative fields, were deprived of job opportunities, international conferences, investment opportunities and family reunification. This was a source of tremendous mental anguish and pain. More importantly, we were held back from taking part in the growth of this beautiful country.
Back in April, in a joint meeting between IRCC, Public Safety Canada, our campaign and ICC, we were told that the security screenings conducted by the CBSA are the main reason for these delays—293 days, on average, as was announced in this very committee.
In fact, according to the immigration data, Iranian applicants make up over 16% of security screenings sent to the CBSA. Just note that Iranians make up only 3.5% of recent immigration in Canada.
We have reason to believe that Iranian applicants are sent for comprehensive security screenings after eligibility, criminality and medical requirements are met. While Canadian immigration laws state that the applicants must be handled on a case-by-case basis, Iranian applicants are consistently asked to submit additional documents in the admissibility stage. I have the same document here today. This suggests that we are singled out due to our nationality. This is the very definition of discrimination based on country of origin.
Here I should state my appreciation for the help of representatives from across the political spectrum. MP Kwan has discussed this issue in the House of Commons many times, and she has handled many cases directly. MP Rempel has sponsored an e-petition for us that has gathered about 2,000 signatures. I appreciate that I had a chance to work with both of them. MP Hussen and MP Goodale have admitted to the delays and have promised to resolve the issue.
While there have been improvements in reducing the average wait time in the past few months, for which we are very thankful, the root cause of this appalling issue is far from being resolved.
I would like to invite all the members of this committee, regardless of their respective parties, to stand in unity against discrimination, to help us resolve this issue for the remaining applicants, including myself, and to prevent this from happening in the future of Canadian history.
Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity.
I would like to ask Pouyan to talk about solutions.