Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 20th, 2016

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I thank all the witnesses for their presentations.

I'd like to add a number of other suggestions for consideration by the government, just as we've heard from many witnesses on this important issue. Here are my thoughts. One is for the government to take immediate actions in response to the declaration that genocide is being committed, and that under section 25 of the IRPA on humanitarian and compassionate considerations, we support the recommendations of the witnesses to immediately begin bringing Yazidis to Canada, with an ultimate target of 5,000 to 10,000. I would recommend that in the very near term, utilizing the databases compiled by the groups who have appeared here, that 3,000 to 4,000 could be brought to Canada, and that they include victims of genocidal actions such as human trafficking, sexual slavery, rape, torture, and widowed women, and orphans. Also, it is estimated that there are 3,000 to 4,000 Yazidis in the Turkish camps right now, and action needs to be taken with respect to them. Due to the extraordinary event that is genocide, groups brought over in response to a genocide would not count as part of the immigration prime levels, so as not to prevent other individuals from making legitimate claims.

On the question around humanitarian aid, significant food shortages have been identified in refugee camps in the region, and the asks are quite light in that regard, in fact. They are asking for flour, rice, and oil. Electricity by way of generators is also a significant issue, due to the extreme conditions like heat. Medicine and clothes are also issues in terms of the immediate need for humanitarian aid. It was also brought to our attention that there are issues with the distribution of humanitarian aid due to corruption and discrimination, and that the aid is not reaching the most vulnerable. In light of that, the government should work more closely with credible, established NGOs in the region to deliver the aid directly into the camps.

There was also an ask from the Yazidi groups that appeared before the committee—and this took place in a private meeting with me, so it wasn't before the committee—for direct cash resources to be provided to the victims. They were recommending $1 million of direct cash resources to be spread amongst the Yazidi population as an initial action.

There's the issue of processing delays. Canada still lacks the ability to process cases in northern Iraq, which is where many Yazidis—amongst many other refugees—are located. The UNHCR has already processed many of these peoples and it is the additional Canadian screening slowing everything down, because it cannot take place as we have no processing centres there.

On best practices abroad—and this was brought to our attention by the representative from the UNHCR—we could actually waive the Canadian processing process to expedite the arrivals of families and adopt that best practice of other jurisdictions in this regard. For family reunification cases in Canada, this additional level of screening only occurs if significant flags are raised, so if advocating for the waiver of the whole screening is not acceptable, then I would suggest that it apply only in cases where screening cannot be done. I ask because it's creating such delays.

For the LGBTQI community, there are an estimated 63 countries in the world that criminalize people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. This discrimination and vulnerability coded in law is different from vulnerability due to conflict, and in many cases if a person leaves their country to be able to make a refugee claim, it puts them in an even more vulnerable situation because they end up in another country that criminalizes them, and where they have no supports. So their leaving could also put their families at risk. Providing a program similar to that of the source country class program, but one that is more adaptable and responsive, would allow individuals to connect with Canadian NGOs, to makes claims in Canada or with local groups on the ground while still being in their country of origin. There are human rights organizations that could assist in that regard.

And we recommend the creation of a subcommittee to continue to work on internally displaced persons for solutions in the future.

Those are some of my thoughts on how we can move forward in the immediate sense, in addition to what my colleague, Ms. Rempel, has provided.

I wonder whether or not those are items you would support as well.

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

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I know I'm running out of time, so a quick answer from all of you would be appreciated.

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

A cheeky point of order.

I would like to echo our support of Ms. Kwan's recommendations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

I'm not sure that's a point of order, but—

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

I said it was a cheeky one, Mr. Chair.

[Rabea Allos]

One thing the government could look at doing to speed up the Yazidi applications is to bring the people over here to Canada on a temporary visa, go through the screening, and then issue the permanent residency. That would be the best way to do it.

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

That's an alternative.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

I agree with you.

All of the recommendations we read today are wonderful, but it's a matter of action. It's one thing to say, “Yes, we agree with your recommendation”, but it's another thing if the government will listen to us or not.

[Nafiya Naso]

Yes, I agree with everything you said.

There are a couple of things we've bumped into. Access to health care and the humanitarian aid is a huge issue in these refugee camps and the fact that they are segregated.

Through our project, Operation Ezra, in one of the families we're sponsoring, one of the ladies had a baby a few months ago. She had her baby in the camp, and we had to send her money through Operation Ezra to get medical attention for her and her baby, and to buy her baby clothing and blankets, etc.

Through Operation Ezra we're sending these families money to buy clothing, and food, etc. Our two families who came required interviews and medicals, and to get them on a plane we had to send them to Istanbul. They were funded through Operation Ezra, whereas for other refugee groups who were sponsored by the government, Canadian officials went into the camps to do the interviews, medicals, and things like that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Weiss, very briefly.

[Lorne Weiss]

For just two minutes, if I may, or two seconds. I'm sorry about that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Two seconds is probably more likely.

[Lorne Weiss]

A New York minute, then.

The on-the-ground issue is important because those people are being segregated, and they're not getting the same attention as the Syrian refugees in the camps.

I also want to point out that through our information, there are 25,000 Yazidi refugees in Turkey, and looking at getting people out is, quite frankly, the low hanging fruit. They're accessible. We don't have to go into Syria to find them. Let's start there. Let's start with people we can get out in a hurry and get them to Canada to a safe haven.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Weiss.

Mr. Sarai, seven minutes, please.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

I want to commend all three groups and all four of you for your great work. Some of you are refugees, have been imprisoned and have survived some of this stuff, and the others have helped out a tremendous amount for hundreds of refugees.

Mr. El Shafie, you have spoken passionately in public about the plight of the Yazidis. In my hand I have a copy of your testimony before the subcommittee in 2014. You testified that you had led delegations to Iraq with parliamentarians such as Conservative MPs Brad Butt, Russ Hiebert, and Leon Benoit.

You testified that with these MPs you visited a Yazidi refugee camp. In your own testimony you said that what was happening to the Yazidis was a genocide, yet none of your recommendations or your statements called for the Canadian government to resettle any Yazidi refugees. In fact, what you recommended at the time was that we co-operate with the Iraqi government and that we push other neighbouring states to stop funding terrorism, but none of them ever called—despite seeing a genocide—for the Yazidis to be brought here.

At that time, none of the three government members of Parliament called it a genocide, nor did they ask for refugees to be brought to Canada or took any action in that regard. In fact, now we've learned that only a carful, maybe four people, from the Yazidi community ended up being refugees during that time.

You also called for more military intervention, but not resettlement. You criticize this government for not bringing in enough Yazidis, yet there was no criticism of the past government whatsoever.

My question to you is, can you tell us if you ever recommended bringing Yazidi refugees to Canada prior to this government's coming into power?

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

You're talking about the first trip we did, when the attacks on the Yazidi were starting. We were there at the very beginning. One of our main concerns was that we didn't know how the Kurdish region would deal with the refugees. In the beginning, our first choice always is not to have anybody emigrate, but to leave them at home in their culture and their environment. That is always my first choice. If you ask me if I prefer to be here or in Egypt, of course, it's my home country. This is not something that we'll disagree on. But as the years went by, and as we kept monitoring what was happening to the Yazidis on the ground, we discovered an amount of corruption, an amount of discrimination, that led us to believe that their lives there, even in Kurdistan, would not be easy, safe, or secure. The stigma facing those girls when they returned back.... We were hoping that they would be treated as victims, that they would receive the proper health care, mental health care. Sadly this didn't happen on the ground. So in the beginning we were definitely hoping that we could work with the Kurdish community on the ground in order to improve their lives and their situation after their rescue. When this didn't happen, and we kept monitoring the situation year after year, we found that having them emigrate would have to be part of the solution. So this is number one.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

You witnessed a genocide. You saw women raped, a man murdered being trained. It was the worst atrocity happening at the time. You first-hand saw it with members of Parliament, yet you thought that it was okay to just leave them in camps at the time, that there was no need to bring them to a safe haven at all, that there was no cry for help at that time. I would assume if I saw that, it would be one of the most passionate and compassionate moments of my life where you would want to bring them right away, but you felt more...about working with the Iraqi government and not once, until late 2015 or early 2016, ever brought up that we should bring Yazidis to Canada, or that they were not being brought to Canada.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

Before you use my report against me, I would ask you, have you been there before? Have you seen the situation yourself?

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

No.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

You haven't been there, okay. I've been there. So when this happened, once again, we were hoping that through the Kurdish community we would be able to have a stable life for them. So we brought medication. We started a project—

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

It's not in your recommendations.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

I have to respond to you.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

They were not your recommendations.

[Rev. Majed El Shafie]

I'm sorry, but I just have to respond to you if you don't mind.