Evidence of meeting #131 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was countries.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Do you have any data in terms of metrics on how often that occurs, or instances of reporting and justice being served, as opposed to likely incidents of....?
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I guess what I'm saying is that I understand that even in developed countries, many women don't report sexual violence.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I'm sure it must be a lot worse in a situation like that. I'm just wondering if we're being naive to think—
4:05 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
I don't have data or figures to cite to you at the moment, but the data exists, and this data has been collected more systematically in more recent years.
4:05 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
It would be with the UNHCR. It would be with several NGOs, such as Médecins Sans Frontières. They collect that kind of data.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Okay. Thank you very much.
I know you've done a lot of work with respect to human rights in Pakistan. We've had a lot of cases recently reported to my office around Pakistanis who have fled to Thailand because of religious persecution. Part of the challenge this cohort is currently facing is that they say that they're not getting a lot of help from the UNHCR.
Is this something your organization has been aware of? Do you have any advice on the appropriate advocacy component for that?
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
You are correct that much of my experience is in dealing with the situations of minority communities in Pakistan, and specifically with those who are more persecuted than others. The climate for all non-Muslim minorities is not good, but there are certain minorities, such as the Ahmadiyya community, who suffer much more persecution. I have not seen the UNHCR being very helpful.
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
We have found much better responses from individual country missions and the diplomatic community in Pakistan in that regard.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you.
Also, with respect to the World Refugee Council, you spoke briefly about additional sanctions beyond what's included in the Magnitsky act right now, and certainly the Rohingya genocide is something that is of great concern to the entire international community. Is the use of the Magnitsky act to sanction individuals who are deemed responsible for significant atrocity crimes against the Rohingya people something that your organization would be advocating for right now?
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
We will certainly be advocating for the use of whatever we can find in terms of any framework that is available for bringing an end to impunity. We do believe that the recent efforts of the International Criminal Court to deal with the situation of the Rohingya through that particular channel of international criminal law will be very useful. It needs to be supported and needs to be given more strength.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I'll close with a bit of a broader question.
What are your observations as an organization on the Dublin agreement, the recent negotiations that have been occurring in the EU in terms of potential broader-scale changes in Europe with regard to resettlement policy or the processing of asylum claimants? Is there anything that Canada should be aware of that you're either concerned about or very supportive of in terms of how that renegotiation has been going?
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
Our report does see some of these as very positive. We do believe that those can generate much more useful practices.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
I can't give you specific instances at this point. I'm just referring you to the report—that we do take those into consideration.
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
This report is being launched next year, that the World Refugee Council has.... The interim report has already been put forward. There is an interim report, and I will certainly make sure that the committee has a copy of the interim report.
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
Some of these measures—not all of them, obviously—that have been taken at the European level or other regional levels could be useful for Canada to study.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
4:10 p.m.
Co-Chair, World Refugee Council
I'm not sure that I can think of anything in particular that comes to my mind right now. Of course, there are many things to be concerned about, but I'm afraid I can't immediately think of anything.
