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.