Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 20th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Allos.

Mr. El Shafie, seven minutes, please.

[Reverend Majed El Shafie, Founder and President, One Free World International]

First of all, Mr. Chair, I would like to thank you for this opportunity. As I told you yesterday, you were one of the four Liberal MPs in Parliament who voted for the recognition of genocide, and I want to thank you for that.

Ms. Michelle Rempel, I thank you for being one of the engines behind this committee.

Mr. Arif, it is always a pleasure meeting you.

For the rest of the members, it is always a pleasure and honour meeting all of you.

The last time I was here we discussed the different issues of how we can help the refugees not just through their resettlement and the immigration movement, but also on the ground, such as dealing with the source of the problem, ISIS and what they are doing on the ground, and confronting some of the forces in some of these areas. We discussed as well the creation of green zones for minorities in the land where there is conflict. We also discussed the original resettlements. We talked about how Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar do not take any refugees, and that we have to put more pressure on them to do more.

I also discussed that one of the main problems we are facing is that the Canadian government does not have a mechanism or a vehicle to deal with internally displaced people. We have a mechanism to deal with refugees if they are outside their countries, but the Canadian government has not dealt properly with internally displaced persons until now, or does not have a proper mechanism for doing so.

We have to realize that if we are counting on UNHCR to choose the refugees for us, that is not good enough. I used to be a UNHCR refugee. I love the UNHCR. They did save my life, but they cannot be the only source we have. In order to choose our refugees, we have to co-operate with local groups and local organizations on the ground and with other international organizations that also have experience with the different regions we are dealing with.

We also discussed that the Canadian government does not want to choose refugees based on their religious or ethnic background. While I understand this principle, and I understand where this is coming from, we also have to understand that this example doesn't work in every case. When we are saying that the Yazidis are being killed because they are Yazidis, we have to look at their religion. When we say that the Christians are being killed because they are Christians, we have to look at their religious background. We cannot leave the most vulnerable minorities behind simply because we want to be politically correct. This is not the time to be politically correct. They don't have the time, and we have to do as much as possible.

We were talking about the Rohingya. I think it was two or three years ago when the Canadian government took some of the Rohingya refugees from the refugee camps in Bangladesh, based on their being Muslim refugees. They were persecuted because they were from the Muslim community in Burma. If we did this for the Rohingya, I think we can do the same thing for the Yazidis and other minorities.

The last time I spoke about a proposal that we presented to the Canadian Minister of Immigration, and I believe we indicated in the last hearing that our proposal was ignored. After the hearing, some Canadian media outlets, including The Toronto Star, took up the story.

The next day we received a phone call from the chief of staff. On June 17, the chief of staff came to our headquarters in Toronto. We presented the proposal to him, and we had a discussion with him. At the end of June, we enhanced the proposal and presented it. All of you have a copy of the proposal in English and French.

Just as a quick summary of it, instead of pointing a finger at the problem, we are trying to lend a hand. The proposal is being presented by One Free World International, Dr. Martin Mark, and Ms. Chantal Desloges. Both of them were witnesses on this committee in the last two days. It is based on what we call JAS—joint assistance sponsorship—meaning that the government and the community would work together, hand in hand, to sponsor more than 400 Yazidi girls as a first step to bringing them here to Canada. I'm not talking about private sponsors.

If you have the money to bring in 25,000 refugees, I think you can bring 400 Yazidi victims to Canada as a symbol of that. It's the government and the community working together to bring in 400 Yazidi girls who are victims, working on the ground with the locals to pinpoint who they are and how we can bring them here. You have all of this in the proposal. Please feel free to ask me any questions with regard to the proposal.

In conclusion, in 1939, there was a ship full of Jewish refugees under the name of the St. Louis. At that time, we had Prime Minister Mackenzie King, who stated that none was too many. Most of the 900 refugees on that ship went back to Nazi Germany and were killed.

What's happening to the Yazidis today is the second St. Louis ship in our Canadian history. Let's not repeat that mistake again.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. El Shafie.

Now we'll here from Operation Ezra.

Will Mr. Weiss or Ms. Naso go first?

[Lorne Weiss, President, Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Operation Ezra]

Ms. Naso.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Naso, you'll be splitting your time with Mr. Weiss.

[Nafiya Naso, Representative, Yazidi Community of Winnipeg, Operation Ezra]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Today I am here to tell you that my people are a victim of genocide based on their religious beliefs. On August 3, 2014, ISIS attacked the region of Shingal and began one of the most atrocious killing campaigns of the 21st century. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes. Many Yazidis were captured. Men, women, and children were separated from their families.

Boys were forcibly converted and trained to become suicide bombers and soldiers for ISIS. As many as 5,000 Yazidi girls were taken as sex slaves by ISIS and resold across the Middle East. Girls as young as nine years old were raped, and often more than 30 times a day. This continues, and some 3,000 remain in captivity. Many have committed suicide, and others have been murdered. Yazidi babies were taken away from their families and given to Muslim families. Men were either converted or executed on the spot in front of their families. Older women were executed while younger women were kidnapped and forced into widespread sexual slavery industry.

ISIS justifies its campaign against the Yazidis under the banner of radical Islam. It considers the Yazidi as infidels and devil-worshippers whom they view as subhuman.

How is this not a genocide? This is a systematic elimination of my people based on their religious beliefs.

The Yazidis who were lucky enough to escape the Shingal attack fled to Mount Sinjar in August of 2014. Thousands died of starvation or dehydration or exposure to the elements. Young mothers dug graves to bury their children who did not survive.

Following the intervention of western nations, tens of thousands of Yazidis were finally able to flee and settle across Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. This tragedy has left over 500,000 Yazidis as displaced persons, with well over 100,000 in UNHCR refugee camps.

Did you know that these camps are segregated? This is because we are a religious minority that the Muslim world does not accept. The UN keeps us segregated to protect us, even from other refugees.

The situation of my people is desperate and it is dire. I implore you to act to help save my people from extinction.

The Yazidis have held a unique and terrible religious status in Iraq and Syria, which is different from any other group. It means that we can be murdered and raped and enslaved with moral and civil impunity. Without your intervention, my people will not survive.

Our religion is over 6,000 years old, and we used to number 23 million people. However, after 73 recorded massacres, we now number fewer than 700,000 and we are scattered across the world. We are homeless. We are hopeless. We are looking for refuge in a country that will accept us for the peaceful people we are. Please do not make my people a history lesson for the future.

My name is Nafiya Naso. I was a Yazidi refugee who came to this great country with my family over 16 years ago. Canada gave us a future. My people need courageous leaders to give them a safe haven. Canada is that country. You are these leaders, and the time is now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Mr. Weiss.

[Lorne Weiss]

Thank you.

We are here today to tell you that the private sponsorship of refugees is limited in its effectiveness.

Operation Ezra is a Winnipeg-based private sponsorship program launched by the Jewish community of Winnipeg, now involving 20 partners including Christian, multi-faith Yazidi and Jewish groups. Over the last 18 months, we have raised over $250,000 and are sponsoring a total of seven families, or 41 people altogether. To the best of our knowledge, we're the only private sponsorship program focused on the Yazidi people.

We welcomed our first family of eight people on Monday, July 11. Bringing them to Winnipeg took us a year and a half. It will likely take us another year or more to bring the remaining six families. The complicated and time-consuming private sponsorship refugee and immigration process has just too many obstacles to be an effective solution. Applications are complicated and time-consuming. They are also limited and capped in numbers. Our project is currently on hold because of this. As well, serious bottlenecks exist in the process. There are significant wait times to get interviews and medical and security screening scheduled. Refugees have to be transported to visa offices that can be hours or days away from the camps.

Finally, the responsibility to save the people from genocide cannot be left in the hands of the private sector only. We cannot do enough and we cannot do it fast enough. We need your help.

Our third and last point is that government intervention in the form of a large-scale government program is desperately needed to save the Yazidi people from extinction. The plight of the Yazidi people needs to be given priority in the face of this tragic genocide. We are proposing a hybrid program wherein the government brings in a large number of Yazidi families to Canada and the private sector becomes primarily involved with settlement integration of the refugees.

Any sponsorship of refugees who are in extreme danger, such as the Yazidis, whether private or hybrid, must be given the highest priority and processed with the same speed as government refugees. Canada has a unique opportunity to take action on behalf of the Yazidis and offer refuge to a people who are facing extinction.

I hope and I pray that our government will see that the fate of an entire people rests on our ability to do the right thing. Please, let's bring these people to safety.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Weiss.

Mr. Ehsassi, seven minutes, please.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I'd like to thank every witness for being here today and providing us with their moving testimony. I think I can say that I speak on behalf of every member of this committee that we are obviously very much concerned not only about the Yazidi community but also about other communities that are suffering atrocities.

Perhaps I could start with Reverend El Shafie. Welcome back, sir.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

Thank you.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Reverend El Shafie, you actually referenced in your remarks that Canada does not have a mechanism to deal with displaced people, in the sense that our refugee regime does not have any provisions that deal with them. Do you know of any other country that has legal provisions in their refugee nomenclature or legal framework that does deal with displaced people?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

I would say that Germany does. Off the top of my head, Germany took over 1,100 Yazidi girls immediately. The process was very fast. It happened in Kurdistan. It didn't happen in Syria or Turkey. I will say that Germany would be the lead country in this matter.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Other than that, you don't know of any other country that has a legal regime that allows them to assist internally displaced people.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

I believe that maybe Germany and Geneva.... I'm not sure. I'm sure of Germany. I'm not sure about other European countries.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I understand that One Free World has been very active on the issue of Yazidis for some time. Would it be fair to characterize your group as a non-partisan group?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

That's correct.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Have you ever received any funding from the government?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

No.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Nothing through the Office of Religious Freedom?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

No.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I understand that you previously arranged trips abroad for various issues that you've been advocating. Is that correct?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

That's correct.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Have there been MPs who have gone along on any these trips?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

Absolutely, Liberal and Conservative MPs.