I want to make sure I clarify the scope of the study. Part of the issue in northern Iraq in particular is that the government does not have a processing centre there. People cannot get their applications processed even if they have been identified by the UN as a group or a family that meets the requirement to come under the Syrian refugee initiative. This has been ongoing for some time, and therefore the delay in getting the families out has been incredible. I can't even tell you the frustrations that I hear from sponsoring groups here, waiting for those families. I hope this study will also encompass that, because that is a reality today. All those refugees there are vulnerable in that context.
Related to this issue is the LGBTQ issue. As we heard from government officials, while the government identified the LGBTQ community as vulnerable, and at the outset, when the government announced they would embark on the 25,000 Syrian refugee initiative, that would be an identified group to which they would try to provide support. When the officials were before this committee and were asked how many people came under that category, they had no idea because it was not being tracked.
We don't know in that context whether or not the government's own targeted vulnerable group has been successful. We need to find a way to address that as well.
I want to have a clear understanding at this committee that the scope of this motion will include those aspects in our study, because I think it is an important part of the broader extension of the vulnerable groups.