Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 22nd, 2018

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Is there any content in the agreement around reforming how the UN selects refugees for referrals to host countries like Canada?

[Michele Klein Solomon]

That's specifically within the competence of the High Commissioner for Refugees. I would ask you to pose that question to them.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Are you saying it's not in that agreement at all? Are there no reform mechanisms for the UN built into this agreement?

[Michele Klein Solomon]

Do you mean the global compact for refugees or the global compact for migration?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I mean the migration one. There's no discussion about reform of UN process in there.

[Michele Klein Solomon]

There's quite a bit of discussion.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

But it's more focused on member states.

[Michele Klein Solomon]

Yes, but in the global compact for migration there is also recognition of the UN Secretary-General's decision to create a new coordination mechanism in the UN system on migration.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Oh, how would that work?

[Michele Klein Solomon]

The Secretary-General has decided to create what is called a network on migration, which will have the International Organization for Migration, as the coordinator in the secretariat, bring the different parts of the UN system together to work in a more effective way to support member states.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Could you table with the committee some information on that particular requirement? That's news to me, though. It would be interesting to get more information on it.

I have just a few seconds left, so I'll ask one last question. Do you know how much money Canada has dedicated to the development of the global compact on migration?

[Michele Klein Solomon]

I am not aware, because it's your diplomatic mission in New York that negotiates that, and it is the people who are posted at your mission there who will undertake those negotiations.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

In terms of additional staff or hosting meetings or that sort of stuff, is there any sort of outline of budget on how much we've spent?

[Michele Klein Solomon]

I am not aware of that. So far it's been undertaken within existing resources. There have been no extra budgetary consequences of the process leading to the global compact.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

You need to end there.

Mr. Whalen, I see someone's trying to get your chair, so I'll give you two minutes and then we're going to end this hour.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you all for coming.

My question relates to root causes of migration. I looked at the document that was prepared by the Vatican, which we had a chance to take a look at, from January, with about 20 principles to follow in developing the compacts. When I look at the compact on migration itself...maybe I'll focus on objective 2.

You talk about minimizing adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin, and yet there's no discussion here of impunity, and it seems that state impunity is one of the leading drivers for mass exodus from various countries, whether we're talking about the collapse of human rights in countries or just kleptocracies in developing countries. I'm wondering how we see reinvigorating state institutions within source countries for migrants as a goal, because I don't see that either explicitly in the document prepared by the Vatican or in the compact, but that must be considered to be the primary root cause.

[Michele Klein Solomon]

If I might, sir, you're absolutely right, and I'd like to call your attention to objective 2, paragraph 18(b), which actually in the final sentence does address questions of “rule of law and good governance, access to justice and protection of rights, as well as creating and maintaining peaceful and inclusive societies with effective, accountable and transparent institutions”, which I believe goes directly to your point.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Wonderful. It's great to see it there.

With respect to the Vatican's documents, Stéphane—

[Stéphane Vinhas]

Just now, I talked about the Vatican document. The countries of the South have to assume their responsibilities. Those countries also have responsibilities and there must be support for civil societies working to reduce corruption and increase the respect for rights. In a country, there are also various currents and forces at play. Civil societies must be supported when they ask states to assume their responsibilities, because they are at the origin of what is going on. The responsibility does not lie only with the countries of the north. In an interconnected world, the problems and the solutions are in the north and south at the same time.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you all for demonstrating the importance of the global compact.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much to all our witnesses. That was very helpful.

I'm always impressed when you ask a question and someone says, “Go to number 2 at paragraph 18(b).” It's as though they know what they're talking about. It's really very helpful to our committee to have such expertise from all three of you.

We're going to suspend for just a moment as we bring in our next panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm going to call the meeting back to order. Thank you very much.

We're going to welcome our witnesses who are coming to us by video conference.

Monsieur Elie, from Switzerland again, I recognize that it's very late for you. Thank you for joining us.

Mr. Axworthy from Manitoba, thank you for joining us.

Thank you to Mr. McArthur and Ms. Singh from CARE Canada, who are present.

I think we're going to begin with Mr. Elie, who is coming to us from the International Council of Voluntary Agencies in Geneva.

Each of the witnesses has seven minutes, and then we'll have some questions for them.

Please begin, Mr. Elie.

You may speak in French and English.

[Jerome Elie, Senior Policy Officer, Forced Displacement, International Council of Voluntary Agencies]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is a privilege for me to address the committee.

I will continue in English, but I will be happy to answer questions in French.

I work in Geneva in a global network of NGOs, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies. Therefore, I have followed the global compact process closely, sitting at meetings and exchanging with NGOs, the UNHCR and member states quite extensively. I will draw on this experience to present a few reflections on the refugee compact and how it might be implemented.

First of all, the origins of the refugee compact are found in the 2015 crisis, which highlighted major weaknesses of the refugee regime, and two in particular: the lack of clear guidelines to promote international co-operation in this field and the disproportionate responsibility borne by a few states, either as financial contributors or as hosting countries.

All of this demonstrated our collective inability to provide predictable, equitable and sustainable responses to refugee situations.

In reaction, UN member states called for the development of a refugee compact, and also asked the UNHCR to implement the comprehensive refugee response framework, the CRRF, which is now an integral part of the compact.

The compact was developed in 2017 and 2018 through an inclusive process gathering together member states, the UNHCR and other stakeholders, including NGOs. There is, therefore, collective ownership of this document.

The heart of the process was a series of six formal consultations this year on the basis of draft texts. Each member state had opportunities to comment, flag red lines and suggest changes to the draft during the process.

I believe Canadian NGOs provided input, and Canada was very much involved in the process from the start—for example, when Ambassador McCarney was chairing the UNHCR governing body, and later on as well, through various initiatives.

The compact, as you may know, is now scheduled for adoption at the General Assembly next month. Already last week, UN member states showed quite strong support for its objectives.

What is the compact? It can be seen as a blueprint to reinvigorate the refugee regime and implement, more efficiently and predictably, commitments already made through the 1951 convention and other legal instruments.

As such, the compact is a practical rather than normative document. It reaffirms existing obligations such as the core principle of non-refoulement and details arrangements that states and other actors can activate to enhance their responses.

Among the main features of the compact, I highlight the following three.

First are arrangements to broaden the base of support and extend responsibility-sharing, mainly through a global refugee forum, conceptualized as a new form of regular pledging event. This will be multi-stakeholder—meaning that this is not just about state contributions—and it will will try to go beyond financial contributions, calling also for the pledging of, for example, resettlement places, technical assistance and policy changes. It will bring accountability through a follow-up process on commitments made and will also be an occasion to showcase good practices.

Second, the compact further advances the global shift away from the camp approach to promote refugees' self-reliance and their inclusion in the communities that host them, in national systems, and in development plans. It also calls for establishing constructive co-operation between humanitarian and development actors.

Finally, the third main feature is that the compact places considerable emphasis on national ownership and leadership in planning and implementing refugee responses.

I think the adoption of the compact will not mark the end of the process, but rather the beginning of collective efforts to realize its potential. I say that first of all because elements in the text will require further elaboration. How to organize the global refugee forum is one example, but there are others, like defining ways to strengthen national systems such as health and education systems to include refugees.

Let's also remember that the compact is already being implemented through the CRRF. Over the past two years, new political will and partnerships have been mobilized in many countries geared toward improving refugees' lives. Of course many challenges remain, but we can build on positive momentum.

From this perspective, I think that partnerships will be at the centre of the compact's implementation, bringing the multiplier effect required to expand our collective capacity to respond. The compact is truly meant to develop multi-stakeholder approaches, with the participation of refugees themselves, and that is very important.

Finally, in evaluating the impact the compact can have on Canada and on us all, I think it is important to analyze the risks associated with the current deficiencies of the refugee regime. Failing refugees can only lead to radicalization and lost generations. This is in nobody's interest.

We can also say there are high expectations from host states, and so we need the compact and other efforts to rebuild trust and credibility of the refugee regime.

From this perspective, we know that globally Canada is regarded as a leader in refugee policy. Canada is recognized for its major contributions in resettlement and complementary pathways. It is also a champion of refugee education and the protection and empowerment of women and girls. We are all grateful for this and would be delighted to see more.

Given the dire needs, we hope that Canada will be a strong contributor to the global refugee forum through commitments, but also through showcasing good practices. Contributions will not necessarily mean higher funding levels or more resettlement places, although that would be great, of course; it will also mean continuing to lead by example, sharing your experience and expertise and using your good offices and convening power.

To take a concrete example, your global refugee sponsorship initiative aims to help other countries open new pathways for refugee protection. This is exactly the spirit of the compact.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I need you to wind up fairly quickly, please.