Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 18th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Guests, panellists, and committee members, the targeting of groups for ethnic cleansing is an ongoing reality in parts of the world—and then there is genocide. Every anniversary of the Holocaust, the Holodomor, and the Armenian genocide, we invoke the words, “never again”. Yet Srebrenica happened, Darfur happened, and Sinjar happened.

As a consequence of ongoing threats of crimes against humanity, there are vulnerable populations in urgent need of sanctuary. The importance and urgency of the topic was recognized by all committee members. We'll be examining ways for Canada to support targeted groups, including accelerated resettlement and other humanitarian measures.

Appearing before us today in the first panel are Ms. Heather Jeffrey from Global Affairs, and Mr. Robert Orr and Ms. Sarita Bhatla from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

We'll begin with Ms. Heather Jeffrey.

I'd like to remind the witnesses that they have seven minutes for their opening statements.

[Heather Jeffrey, Director General, International Humanitarian Assistance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Mr. Chair and honourable members, thank you.

I am pleased to be here today to speak to you about how Canada supports vulnerable groups in inaccessible regions.

My name is Heather Jeffrey. I am the director general for international humanitarian assistance at Global Affairs Canada.

I will offer a few initial comments, guided by the topics which the committee submitted, and will then be pleased to respond to your specific questions.

Global Affairs Canada welcomes this study, as it addresses a grave humanitarian challenge.

Refugees, internally displaced persons, women, children, the elderly, and the disabled are just some of the groups who may have specific needs during times of crisis. While refugees are afforded specific rights and protection under the refugee convention, other vulnerable groups, like IDPs, remain the responsibility of their national governments. However, all persons who are affected by humanitarian crises and have identified needs are eligible to to receive humanitarian assistance.

Canada channels its support for humanitarian action through an established international humanitarian response system. In situations where international actors do not have a strong presence, support can often be provided to and through local humanitarian actors, including national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.

Humanitarian actors work to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain the dignity of crisis-affected populations. They provide assistance on the basis of identified needs alone, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress and making no distinctions on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class, or political opinions.

The assistance provided is specific to the needs of the crisis-affected populations and can include food assistance, water, shelter, protection, health services, education, and other activities. In cases of protracted displacement we also support efforts to find durable solutions and facilitate the transition of displaced persons away from dependency on aid towards an increased resilience and self-reliance. For example, Canada has provided support to the United Nations Refugee Agency to locally integrate former Angolan and Rwandan refugees in Zambia.

Humanitarian actors play a critical role in providing assistance to vulnerable groups in hard-to-reach areas. By operating in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence, they are able to engage in dialogue with all parties to a conflict to gain acceptance for their activities and access to otherwise inaccessible populations.

At the recent World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey, Canada spoke strongly about the ongoing significance of humanitarian principles and the critical role that principled humanitarian action plays in facilitating the provision of assistance to those with the greatest needs, especially women and girls.

We recognize, however, that negotiating humanitarian access can be challenging. There are often many parties to a conflict. As the number of armed non-state actors fragments and proliferates, even well-established humanitarian partners can face difficulty gaining and maintaining acceptance for their activities. To this end, Canada also engages diplomatically to address situations of concern. We do so on a bilateral basis as well as in multilateral settings. Canada consistently calls upon all parties to armed conflict, both state and non-state actors, to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.

One example of Canada's diplomatic engagement is our participation in the International Syria Support Group. The ISSG is co-chaired by the U.S. and the Russian Federation and includes all regional actors as well as Iran and Saudi Arabia. Securing humanitarian access is a central commitment for the ISSG. The members of the group use their influence with all parties on the ground to work together in coordination with the United Nations to help ensure humanitarian access to all people in need throughout Syria, particularly in all besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Across Syria about 5.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in hard-to-reach or besieged areas. Of that number, close to 600,000 are in 18 besieged areas. As of June 23, 2016, 16 of those 18 besieged areas had been reached since the ISSG began its work in February.

The United Nations and its membership, and particularly the UN Security Council, must also demonstrate a sustained commitment to protecting civilians and to meaningfully respond when flagrant violations of international law occur. Within the UN system Canada strongly supports actors, including special representatives, rapporteurs, and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, to advocate for civilians.

Where problems persist, states can be compelled by the Security Council to take measures to facilitate assistance to civilian populations. In July 2014, for example, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2165, authorizing UN agencies to deliver cross-border humanitarian assistance in Syria by notifying, but not requiring the consent of, the Assad regime. Further resolutions have extended this mandate until January 2017. Since the beginning of the operation, 337 convoys from 7 agencies have provided food assistance to more than 2.8 million people, non-food relief items to 2.3 million people, and water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies to 2.1 million.

In conclusion, while humanitarian actors can and do make a real difference in the lives of people affected by humanitarian crisis, ongoing challenges remain. Canada will continue to support principled humanitarian action and to advocate for unimpeded access to all populations in need.

Thank you very much for your time this morning and I would be pleased to answer any questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Ms. Jeffrey.

Mr. Orr and Ms. Bhatla, you have seven minutes.

[Robert Orr, Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you and good afternoon, Mr. Chair.

My name is Robert Orr. I'm the assistant deputy minister for operations at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. I'm accompanied by Sarita Bhatla, IRCC's director general for refugee affairs.

Resettlement is of course one of a number of tools to assist vulnerable individuals. I'd like to provide a broad overview of how IRCC is able to assist some vulnerable individuals.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, a record high 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015. That includes 21.3 million refugees, 40.8 million internally displaced persons, and 3.2 million asylum seekers.

These cold statistics represent many examples of vulnerable groups that require assistance by the international community.

Of course, the ultimate objective for these displaced people is to return home in peace and safety. Canada's primary goal is, accordingly, to help foster the conditions necessary for them to do so.

Unfortunately, that is all too frequently not an option. There are many protracted situations of displacement, as well as other contexts in which more immediate protection is needed.

In these situations, resettlement may be the best option available for some refugees, although we should remember that resettlement is only available to a very small percentage around the world.

The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that out of the world's 20 million refugees, more than a million are in need of resettlement in 2016, yet in 2014, the most recent year for which we have figures, only 105,000 refugees were resettled worldwide. While Canada obviously does not have the capacity to help every single displaced person, we have demonstrated a strong commitment as a country to welcome refugees openly.

Mr. Chair, the objectives of Canada's resettlement program and the in-Canada asylum system are to save lives, to offer protection to the displaced and persecuted, to meet our country's international legal obligations with respect to refugees, and to respond to international crises by providing assistance to those in need. All refugees resettled to Canada receive permanent residence and a pathway to citizenship. They can be resettled as government-supported refugees, through a private sponsorship, or as part of our growing blended program where government and private sponsors share the costs equally.

As per the 1951 refugee convention and international practice, every government-assisted resettled refugee must be a person who has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; is seriously and personally affected by civil war or armed conflict; or has suffered massive violations of human rights. In addition, according to the definition, refugees must be outside their country of origin.

We rely on our partners, such as the United Nations Refugee Agency, to identify refugees in need of resettlement who will then come to Canada as government-supported refugees.

When making referrals for resettlement, the United Nations Refugee Agency uses assessments of protection needs and vulnerabilities—for example, identifying refugees with legal, physical protection or medical needs, survivors of torture and violence, women and girls at risk, and children and adolescents at risk.

Determinations of vulnerability and protection needs are made regardless of religious or ethnic backgrounds, gender identity, sexual orientation, or other characteristics, but of course in many cases these characteristics may be important elements in the agency's identification of individuals as vulnerable and in need of protection. For example, in many countries, being a member of the LGBTI community can subject an individual to violence and persecution. Canada welcomes referrals of LGBTI refugees for resettlement, and has partnered with organizations interested in sponsoring LGBTI refugees. Canada also has consistently asked the United Nations Refugee Agency to refer women at risk for resettlement to Canada. Once referred, all refugee applicants must be assessed based on eligibility and on admissibility by a visa officer at a Canadian mission abroad.

Mr. Chair, significant challenges in processing resettlement applications arise when vulnerable refugees are in difficult-to-access locations, such as where there are security risks, where travelling to an interview would put refugees or their families at risk, or where there are significant logistical challenges.

Nevertheless, we continue to make significant efforts to process refugees in difficult-to-access locations, such as using video interviews of Somali refugees in Kenya, or Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Lybia. These officers frequently travel into a refugee camp to conduct interviews at an UNHCR, such as to the Kakuma camp in Kenya. Occasionally, when that is not possible, refugees must be transported to the nearest Canadian visa office, for example, refugees from the Dadaab camp may go to Nairobi, or to a third location, such as Khartoum, where visa officers from Cairo or Rome can come to process them. Of course, safety is paramount for the refugees we are working with, our processing partners, and our own officials.

Mr. Chair, turning to the issue of internally displaced persons, in line with international practices, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act focuses on refugee resettlement and in-Canada asylum programs to provide protection to displaced person who are outside their country of origin. It is challenging to provide protection to vulnerable internally displaced persons through immigration measures, and as Ms. Jeffrey has already outlined, there's often a real difficulty in negotiating humanitarian access.

This means protection efforts are primarily required through other avenues, such as humanitarian assistance, and diplomatic and other engagement, including those that aim to bring an end to conflict.

In exceptional cases, we have legal mechanisms to extend protection to particularly vulnerable individuals.

For example, we have the authority to grant permanent resident status to certain vulnerable foreign nationals on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, assessed on a case-by-case basis, and giving consideration to factors such as the best interests of children, family reunification, or discrimination.

The minister also has legal discretion to grant permanent residence based on public policy considerations, a tool used to respond to specific, exceptional, and temporary circumstances. However, since internally displaced persons are commonly located in conflict zones, establishing even temporary processing capacity poses many challenges.

In conclusion, Mr. Chair, Canada uses our resettlement program to offer protection to some of the world's most vulnerable. However, despite our best efforts in global leadership in this area, resettlement remains dwarfed by the scale of displacement and need for protection around the world.

Mr. Chair, Ms. Jeffrey, Ms. Bhatla and I are now happy to answer any questions that committee members may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Orr.

Ms. Zahid, for seven minutes, please.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair. It is good to be back here today in Ottawa.

My question is for Immigration Canada and Global Affairs Canada. The international community first began receiving reports of massacres and atrocities by Daesh against Yazidis in August of 2014.

Could you share what instruction the department received from the minister and the government with regard to assisting the Yazidi community between August of 2014 and September of 2015?

[Robert Orr]

I don't think there was any specific instruction from the minister for the immigration department about that group during that period.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

After these reports came out in August, was there...?

[Robert Orr]

Not specifically on the Yazidis.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

There was nothing.

[Robert Orr]

That said, we continue to monitor consistently with the UNHCR where there are issues and where there are vulnerabilities.

I would turn to my colleague from Global Affairs, though, because that does not mean this was the entire Canadian response.

[Heather Jeffrey]

In terms of the humanitarian assistance responses, as I mentioned, we are a responsive program based on needs as they develop in real time.

Since the beginning of the crisis in Iraq, we have allocated $140.9 million in international humanitarian assistance to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable. This assistance is primarily channelled in three different ways: through UN agencies first of all, those on the ground, UNHCR, the World Food Programme, World Health Organization, and others.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Ms. Jeffrey, when was this? Do you have any dates?

[Heather Jeffrey]

Funding is allocated continually throughout the crisis.

We respond through the consolidated appeals process on an annual basis, but we also respond as needs increase and the needs assessments change throughout the year. It's a continual disbursement of funds to the UN appeals and to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent family, as well as through non-governmental organizations, to meet needs on the ground as they are identified.

We provide funding to respond through trusted humanitarian partners, for example, the World Food Programme. They respond throughout, in this case the country of Iraq, as needs are identified by them and where the greatest degree of vulnerability exists. Canadian funding has gone to support the needs of the most vulnerable throughout the crisis.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

When did it start?

[Heather Jeffrey]

It was at the very beginning of the crisis, so it is ongoing and continuous. In 2015, $80 million in humanitarian assistance was disbursed, and we are continuing through 2016 with additional funding.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I know that the minister has spoken about how a whole-of-government approach is being taken to address the crises in Syria and northern Iraq, which have been fuelled by the Syrian civil war and the rise of Daesh. I think we know that the situation on the ground in the region will only be solved by creating safety and stability, as well as an opportunity for the people in the region. The government's response includes a greatly expanded military training mission, increased humanitarian and development assistance, and work to enhance regional stability. Could you discuss why this whole-of-government approach is important to improving the situation in that region as a whole?

[Robert Orr]

Obviously, there are many different ways we can respond to an appalling crisis such as the one we see in that area. I think it's vitally important that we use all the tools that are available to us. I think in this respect that Global Affairs is very much taking the lead on bringing those various elements together. Ms. Jeffrey has outlined a number of different ways in which we have been responding very effectively. We also work very closely with the international community to respond in the most effective way, and Canada certainly is playing its part in that effort.

[Heather Jeffrey]

I would just add that I think the integrated approach we're taking in response to the Iraq and Syria conflicts is a very innovative and really important development in the way we conduct our humanitarian and development assistance in particular. We're providing assistance across the whole spectrum of needs: security and stabilization, humanitarian assistance, and development.

One of the major conclusions of the World Humanitarian Summit was that humanitarian and development assistance need to work much more closely hand in hand in order to cover the continuum of needs, from emergency crisis response all the way through to building resilience, and eventually reintegrating or finding durable solutions for affected populations. Those include everything from emergency food assistance all the way through to livelihoods and other kinds of support that affected people will need. For us it's very exciting to have this kind of multi-year funding commitment that allows our humanitarian development and stabilization programming to move ahead hand in hand and to reinforce each other. The joint planning of those types of assistance allows us to do things we haven't been able to do in other contexts.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Has the department ever tracked the immigrants and refugees by categories such as sexual orientation or religion?

[Robert Orr]

No, we do not track by that sort of information. There are a number of reasons for that, but primarily it's to protect the privacy of the individuals. Nevertheless, if we are considering vulnerability, those factors would very much be considered at the time of the application, and there may well be information about such things in the notes, but we do not track them in any other manner.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Can you outline any security, logistical, or other concerns that could arise from an attempt to extract internally displaced persons from within the borders of an unsupportive sovereign nation or within a failed or failing nation-state?

[Robert Orr]

I think things would probably go into three buckets on this one. The first one is, as you just mentioned, getting humanitarian access that respects state sovereignty, which can be difficult. Getting access to the individuals in that respect can be very complicated. That can also lead to other complications. If exit permits or that sort of documentation is required from that state, it can be very difficult to get people moved out of it.

Second, there's often the issue of simple logistics and trying to reach the people. It is a conflict zone, so it's often very difficult to reach them. Also, while there are tools that we could sometimes use elsewhere, like video conferencing and so on, to do the interviews, the technology may not be available or it may be broken. That that makes it very difficult as well. It may be difficult for people to get transport in or out, and so on.

The third area is the security of the individuals. Within that, I think, there are three areas I would like to identify. One is the security of the applicants themselves, as you don't want to put them into an even more vulnerable position if it becomes known that there's the possibility of resettlement. The second one has to do with other groups that may need humanitarian assistance, who are not going to be assisted by resettlement, and what happens to them in the aftermath if people are resettled. The third one, of course, is the officials themselves and their security while doing the necessary work in that environment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Rempel, go ahead, please, for seven minutes.

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

I'd like to thank the witnesses for appearing during the summer.

First of all, I'm going to refer to the UNHCR report issued in June 2015 with regard to the genocide of Yazidis. One of the recommendations in the report to the international community is that the international community recognize the commission of the crime of genocide by ISIS against the Yazidis of Sinjar. In your estimation, has the government formally declared that this genocide has occurred?