Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 20th, 2016

[David Manicom]

I don't have that information with me, but the department will meet its objectives under that provision. Again, the vast majority of these are individuals in Canada who would like to remain in Canada and whose personal situation is such that they don't qualify under other programs and who therefore have submitted a humanitarian and compassionate application.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Absolutely, but given the fact that we have to focus on recommendations, I'm sure it's an issue that would be of interest to many.

The second issue is that it has emerged, during the testimony here, that on several occasions, we were informed, individuals at UNHCR refugee camps for interviews had to look into being interviewed four or five years down the road.

Is that something that's typical, or is it something that has ever come to your attention?

[David Manicom]

I can't speak to the United Nations interview queue with any professional knowledge.

Remember that the UNHCR is dealing with people who have just fled and have an immediate protection need, and they will often interview them within days and refer them to a country within days, which will resettle them immediately because the person is at immediate risk.

We also have populations who have been residing for generations in refugee camps. Canada was a very large participant in resettling Bhutanese from eastern Nepal. I was involved in it myself. This was a 20-year phenomenon so from a processing challenge point of view the UNHCR were there, set up a large operation, and it would take some time to set it up and they would interview people to meet the challenges.

It is of course true that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, like all humanitarian agencies right now, is in desperate need of additional support and resources. Their appeals, given the catastrophic size of the humanitarian crises around the world, are not being fully funded. So yes, of course, they could use more resources.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

As you can imagine, during these hearings quite a few things have emerged. I think one of the things that has emerged is that despite the fact that atrocities against the Yazidis started in the summer of 2014, throughout 2015 maybe a handful of people were admitted to the country.

Another interesting fact that emerged today is that one of the witnesses who appeared here appeared to say that the previous minister of immigration, Mr. Alexander, actually had approved a plan to bring in Yazidis.

Would any of you officials know about this?

[David Manicom]

That is incorrect.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Was it shared with you?

[David Manicom]

That is incorrect, to my knowledge.

I cannot speak to statements a minister may have made privately, but there is no knowledge in the department of such a decision.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you.

I have one minute remaining.

Mr. Virani.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Manicom, just to finish the thought, you had said that the majority of the refugees in the region are Muslim. To dovetail from a question that was asked of you by my Conservative colleague, one knows that when you have policies there is exclusion by intention but there is also exclusion by effect. When you have an areas of focus policy that directs departmental officials to prioritize ethnic and religious minorities, I would presume that the impact on the majority group in the region is that their numbers would go down.

Is that a fair, logical deduction?

[David Manicom]

Yes, it is.

But if I may add, Mr. Chair, there are nine areas of focus and some of them are extremely broad and some of them are extremely narrow. The way in which they interplay, when provided to the United Nations as a general guide to Canada's priorities, and given the actual caseload the United Nations has before them, it's difficult to quantify in any direct way.

Also, the use of the areas of focus was very new and was not in place for a very long period of time prior to the election so it would be difficult to draw conclusions about its effect. What you say is probably statistically true, Mr. Virani, but given the very broad nature of some of the areas of focus it's hard to draw such a specific conclusion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Manicom.

I'd like to thank the department officials for appearing at this concluding session of our hearings. Thank you for all of your work.

We will now suspend. Thank you.

[Proceedings continue in camera]