Evidence of meeting #22 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 unhcr.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
That applied to people of various ethnicities and various religions.
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Absolutely.
Liberal
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Absolutely.
Minority religions were a significant part of the people referred to Canada.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Would majority religions also have been part of that group?
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Yes.
Liberal
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
That's my understanding.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Therefore, the majority of the people in flight in the area are also practitioners of Islam.
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Yes.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
When this policy that my colleague Mr. Fragiskatos referred to, this areas of focus policy, was implemented, which put a gloss on....
Just so we understand it crystal clear, the UNHCR said here's a pocket of people we're suggesting to you for resettlement, and this was an additional gloss. People were prioritized by the previous Canadian government based on whether they were a religious or ethnic minority.
Is that correct?
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Again, I'm not familiar with the policy, so I can't refer to that.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Are you familiar with whether that was the first time Canada had implemented such a policy?
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Our discussions with governments are discreet.
Sometimes governments will come forward with ideas that we don't think are great and we'll tell them so. Sometimes they'll come forward with great ideas and we'll publicly thank them. That's the nature of our discourse.
Liberal
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
In your experience, which seems deep, have you seen groups being persecuted or being caused to be refugees based on their ethnicity, their religion, or their sexual orientation? Is that a factor that often causes somebody to become a refugee?
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Religion is one of the grounds in the refugee convention, and certainly being a member of a sexual minority could be determined as being a member of a social group.
Certainly, that's the basis for a well-founded fear of persecution, and they need protection as a refugee.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
In the Middle Eastern refugee crisis, all groups, regardless of faith, are definitely facing persecution. However, are there groups that are at a greater risk of death or torture or imprisonment based on the fact that they are ethnic or religious or sexual minorities?
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
I think what might be helpful for you, instead of my trying to name them, is to say that we do have guidelines—
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Are there groups that are at greater risk of becoming refugees, of dying, of being put into slavery?
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Yes.
What I was getting at is that we do have guidelines relating to refugee status determination for Iraqis, for Syrians, specifically identifying certain categories that will help refugee status determination. People involved in refugee law, such as judges, make decisions that way, where we provide some guidance bringing together a whole bunch of—
Conservative
Officer in Charge in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
It could be because of that.
Conservative
