Thank you very much. I am here today to represent the Canadian Council for Refugees, which is an umbrella organization with about 180 member organizations, many of which are heavily involved in resettlement.
First of all, I'd like to congratulate you for putting the focus on vulnerable refugees. Canada's resettlement program should be designed to respond effectively to vulnerable refugees globally. At times in its history, Canada has used economic criteria to select refugees for resettlement, which is not appropriate. The immigration regulations still require that those resettling to Canada be able to successfully establish themselves in Canada.
I have a couple of comments about internally displaced persons. While refugees, by definition, have fled their country of origin, IDPs are displaced within their own country. This distinction is more than just one of geography. From a legal perspective those who are outside their country need to rely on the international community, whereas someone within their country is entitled to expect that their own government will protect them. For this reason IDPs are not generally considered for resettlement, which is a solution for people who need some other country to provide protection and a permanent home.
International law assumes that people facing persecution will seek protection within their own country if they can reasonably do so. Refugee claimants in Canada are regularly asked to explain why they could not have gone somewhere else in their country to escape persecution. This is known as the internal flight alternative.
In some cases, IDPs do not enjoy the protection of their own government because the government is unwilling or unable to provide protection. In such cases, the person may need international protection, but it is because of the lack of protection available and not because they are displaced.
Currently, Canada's immigration regulations exclude from resettlement anyone still in their country of origin. This was not always the case. Before October 2011, Canada had a source country class. This class provided for resettlement of people still in their country of origin.
The CCR recognizes that there are a number of challenges in using resettlement to respond to people still in their country of origin, including political and diplomatic issues with the source country; security issues for Canadian officials processing the case and for those being processed; and serious problems in identifying an organization that can do referrals, given that this is not part of the UNHCR mandate. The CCR opposed the elimination of the source country class. We wanted to reform it to make it work, and we maintain that position.
I have a comment now about equity. CCR shares the horror felt by the committee over the human rights abuses suffered by the Yazidis, as well as by many other religious and ethnic minorities. At the same time, we need to be careful about targeting specific groups, as it can compromise equitable treatment. Often there are individuals at extreme risk who do not fit within a specified group, but are just as deserving of priority consideration. We should not say to someone at risk that you won't be considered for resettlement simply because of your religion or ethnicity. In this regard, we note the dishonourable recent history of Canada trying to force a bias in referrals from UNHCR. The principle of non-discrimination is a fundamental one, and it must be respected scrupulously.
The issue of equity is a particular concern for the CCR and its members at present in the context of the current focus on Syrian refugees. Many individuals and institutions are generously reaching out to support Syrian refugees. As welcome as that is, when the benefits are directed only to Syrians, there is an injustice to other refugees. In particular, Canada's resettlement response has not been good to African refugees. As a result, we believe it is important to design policies and programs that are equitable to all refugees globally without targeting particular nationalities or ethnic groups.
We also have concerns about the politicization of the refugee selection system. We need to avoid having decisions made based on which groups have the best lobbyists, which groups have the best access to the minister's ear, or which groups catch the media's interest. We note the rise in recent years of ministerial priorities in the private sponsorship program, which we consider very problematic.
The UNHCR has the mandate to identify vulnerable groups for resettlement. We recommend letting the UNHCR take the lead. This does not exclude having open consultations about Canada's resettlement plans in dialogue with the UNHCR.
We're worried about the urgent protection program. Sometimes vulnerable refugees need very quick resettlement. Canada has an urgent protection program that should allow Canada to respond to vulnerable refugees facing imminent protection threats. However, sometimes Canada struggles to meet the timelines for the program. We would like to see the government use the successful experience of doing the rapid processing of Syrian refugees to find ways to move refugees very quickly when there are urgent protection needs.
Now I will mention other immigration measures. Canada can respond to human rights crises by opening up immigration possibilities that are not strictly tied to the refugee category. This could reduce some of the legal and diplomatic issues. For example, the CCR has been recommending that Canada offer temporary resident permits to Syrians with family in Canada.
Finally, a word about alternatives to resettlement. Canada can play an important role in ways other than resettlement to support IDPs and refugees. The UN report on Yazidis has a series of recommendations, and in fact, resettlement is not one of them. Governments can and do engage diplomatically, provide funding, advocate for the rights of IDPs, and respond in other ways. Since our organization's expertise is in the area of immigration, which is also this committee's mandate, we do not pretend to have specific recommendations to make, but many NGOs are engaged in these issues and can give input.
Thank you.