Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 18th, 2016

[Heather Jeffrey]

Following the release of the report of the international commission of inquiry on the human rights violations and crimes perpetrated in Syria, Minister Dion made a statement in the House of Commons that acknowledged the commission of inquiry's findings. He declared that the atrocities committed by ISIL against the Yazidis in Sinjar constituted genocide.

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

Given that the government has declared this to be a genocide, has the genocide against the Yazidis been factored into the prioritization of refugees being processed under the government's Syrian refugee initiative?

[Robert Orr]

Under the Syrian refugee process, no, they would not be factored into that. Nevertheless, we are looking at a variety of different programs in the Middle East where we are accepting vulnerable individuals, and certainly the Yazidis would fit into that category.

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

In an article in the Toronto Star in February 2016, the UNHCR, in an email response, said:

...we are submitting Yazidi women from Iraq for resettlement from Turkey...it is really for (Canada) to say if they are considering taking Iraqi Yazidis from Turkey as part of their resettlement program.

Since this date, since the UNHCR has been submitting names of Yazidi women from Iraq for resettlement, have there been any special efforts to bring these Yazidi women to Canada?

[Robert Orr]

There have been a number of Yazidis who have been accepted, both through the—

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

How many?

[Robert Orr]

—the private sponsorship and the government sponsorship programs. Because we do not track ethnic or religious groups systematically, we cannot give you an answer in terms of the number.

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

All right. Has the department ever been directed to track refugees on their status as members of a religious or ethnic or sexual minority group in order to prioritize refugees based on vulnerabilities due to these criteria?

[Robert Orr]

As I said, we do not systematically keep those sorts of statistics on ethnic or religious minorities.

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

In your estimation the department has never been directed to track these statistics.

[Robert Orr]

In response to the question, I can say that we do not track those statistics.

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

Have you ever been directed to track them?

[Robert Orr]

Not to my knowledge.

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

Thank you.

In terms of responding to the report's recommendation to accelerate refugee applications for Yazidis facing genocide, has the department been directed to take any special measures in this regard?

[Robert Orr]

Again, in response to resettlement we very much take our lead, on the government sponsorship side, from the UNHCR. It would depend on the cases that are referred to us by the UNHCR; but we look at those cases, if they are referred to us, very sympathetically.

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

It's my understanding that many Yazidis list their nation of origin as Iraq. Is this correct?

[Robert Orr]

That would be correct.

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

Under this government, was there a cap placed on refugees from Iraq through the private sponsorship stream?

[Robert Orr]

Not that I'm aware of, but Ms. Bhatla may be able to respond.

[Sarita Bhatla, Director General, Refugee Affairs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

I can't speak to specific caps in specific regions at this point, although we could certainly get you that information. The reference to caps applies to private sponsorship applications, and the reason—

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

Has there been a cap placed on privately sponsored refugees from the Iraqi region?

[Sarita Bhatla]

I can't speak to that region at this time, but I'd be very happy to provide information to you on the caps that are used for the private sponsorship program.

What I would emphasize is that the cap is really about processing efficiencies and backlogs, the issue being that we do not want refugees to languish in backlogs without their coming to Canada. Therefore, we have to match the private sponsor interest and capacity with what we are able to process overseas, because the alternative is to have four- or five-year wait times for refugees who are in the queue but can't actually make it to Canada. It's extremely frustrating for the private sponsors who have to wait that long to get the refugees.

It's a planning tool and an operational tool to ensure that the applicants are treated with respect.

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

From previous studies in this committee we've heard that there are many private-sponsor refugee groups, including private-sponsor refugee groups that are seeking to bring Yazidis to Canada, that are experiencing great delays or resistence in terms of their finding spots through the private sponsorship program. They are citing a cap on bringing in refugees, Yazidi women they've identified who may be in camps in Turkey.

Have you received any direction from the government to prioritize the applications of Yazidis facing genocide who may be located in Turkish refugee camps at the present time?

[Sarita Bhatla]

No.

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

Is there any implication of the government declaring the genocide of Yazidis by ISIS in terms of processing refugee claims through the privately sponsored stream? Should that be considered as a priority now that this declaration has been made?