Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 29th, 2018

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank all the witnesses. Particularly, I'd like to acknowledge and say thank you to you, Adiba, for coming forward as a witness. It's extremely difficult and I think courageous for you to come to share your story with us and to be that advocate and voice for change. I want to acknowledge that.

As we're talking about the global compact, one of the issues is that it does not include the internally displaced, which the Yazidi community is. Therefore, there's a flaw, if you will, within the global compact.

From the internally displaced community's point of view, from the Yazidis' point of view, one of the issues that you've raised is that you would like to see Canada bring more Yazidis to the country. Part of that is with respect to family reunification.

Would you agree, then, that the government should allow for the one-year window of opportunity initiative to not have a deadline, so in the event that you have a surviving family member out there, that family would be able to come through the one-year window of opportunity stream?

[Adiba, Interpretation]

We've been here for one year. I have asked the government to bring my family to Canada. My family is still in refugee camps. They want to come here. Yazidis in camps have no life. They are not living properly.

I would like to call on the Government of Canada to bring in our families. I've been here for a year and a half, and that's my plea to the government. Unfortunately, I have never heard back from the government.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

When you say “family members”, how are they related to you? Can you tell our committee that? Are they your aunts, your cousins, your sisters?

[Adiba, Interpretation]

My father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, maternal and paternal uncles: all Yazidis are like my family.

You are here. You can't imagine how Yazidis are living in refugee camps. I came right from a refugee camp. I know what they're experiencing very well. I'm sure they know that they don't have a future and their future is grim.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Canada has this funny definition of what is deemed to be family, and “nuclear family” is how we define it. Of course, for your community—and many other communities as well—the family unit is far beyond that; it's the extended family.

I think in your context, you are also referring to your Yazidi brothers and sisters in the broader community, because your community faces a genocide. I think what I'm hearing is that you're calling for the government to change the family reunification definition of “family” to include the extended family.

Am I correct in understanding that?

[Adiba, Interpretation]

Yes.

What I want from the Canadian government is that they receive all the Yazidis, especially in refugee camps, to bring in Yazidis as much as they can, or to deliver aid to them in the refugee camps.

However, more importantly, I want the Canadian government to increase the numbers, not only the 1,200 families. That's a very small number compared to the number of Yazidis being persecuted.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. El Shafie, you referred to 4,000 Yazidis for the Canadian government to resettle. Can I assume that is the 4,000 that Adiba is also referring to, for the government to resettle?

[Majed El Shafie]

Yes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Ms. Clark-Kazak, is that something that you would support? I know earlier you couldn't give a number, but now we've heard from people from the Yazidi community, who are advocating for that number. Is that something that you would support as well?

[Prof. Christina Clark-Kazak]

I would support the resettlement of as many Yazidis as necessary to resolve that long-standing and entrenched issue. I think this is where Canada has shown leadership in the past and this is where Canada can show leadership now.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I note that the trauma as a survivor is significant. How important is it to have people from your community, other Yazidi members and your extended family members, here during your healing process and your recovery from that trauma?

My question is for Adiba.

[Adiba, Interpretation]

The need is to help the girls who are here by bringing their families from Iraq. We don't have any psychological services offered by the government. We've seen this from One Free World International, but not from the government, just from that organization, which provides doctors and psychologists and that kind of help.

We are in a new country. We have the language barrier. We don't know anything about the new country, so if it weren't for One Free World International supporting the Yazidis, it would have been so difficult for Yazidis.

[Majed El Shafie]

To answer your question, I do believe that bringing the family together is an important step for healing the wounds of the genocide, yes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Adiba, I know the trauma is significant, and Mr. El Shafie, you mentioned that she had a meltdown. I believe that it was a convulsion disorder that she has suffered and that other survivors suffer that as well.

[Majed El Shafie]

Indeed.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Doctors have indicated that one path forward to assist them is to bring their family members here so that they can be around loved ones and other Yazidi families for emotional support as well.

To that end, I wonder whether or not—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm afraid I need to stop you there. That's your time.

Mr. Ayoub, we have two minutes for you. Sorry.

[Ramez Ayoub, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

You're taking me by surprise. I didn't think that I had any time, but I'll try to make good use of these two minutes.

First of all, I want to say that Ms. Adiba's presentation touched me deeply. Unfortunately, in two minutes, I don't have the time to elaborate on the subject. I'll focus on the global compact initiative.

Does a fear of foreigners and a fear of welcoming people, such as Ms. Adiba, who have faced some difficult situations explain the withdrawal of certain countries and the existence of rhetoric that pits the countries against the people in danger?

[Christina Clark-Kazak]

As Mr. Smith said, this is a domestic policy issue. It's true that a population that fears foreigners will push local politicians to not accept immigrants.

[Ramez Ayoub, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Do you think this political rhetoric is being used in Canada?

[Christina Clark-Kazak]

We need only to look at what has happened in Quebec and Ontario recently. There's reason to be concerned about what could happen at the federal level.

[Ramez Ayoub, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you. We need to close this part of the meeting.

I'm going to do two things, though. I would like to request that the clerk forward some documents to One Free World International. I think you have this, but I want to make sure you have the report that was done by our committee in March 2018, as well as the government response that was tabled to the House of Commons on August 22 and the debate in the House of Commons on November 28. I just want to make sure your organization has those documents, because I think that they are relevant to some of our discussion here.

[Majed El Shafie]

I would appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

We will make sure those are forwarded by the clerk.

Second, thank you both for your testimony. I'm going to suggest that the bulk of the testimony from One Free World International be included in our migration study report, because it was really on migration. It was not really part of our global compact report.