Evidence of meeting #42 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was unhcr.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
If you find some information, would you be able to send it to the committee? Would it be possible for us to get that information?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
We can work through the Canadian officials with the government, but if this is an issue and they need to solve it, then of course your support will be welcome and necessary.
If I may say so, this is also an issue if we want to have Yazidis extracted out of northern Iraq. You already might have seen in press reports that the Iraqi authorities have asked why that minority should leave the country. They say that they do not see this as a priority, and that there are so many other vulnerable groups and minorities. This is also in Iraqi—
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
My next question is linked to that. The selection process is a very important part of this discussion. We have already heard details from the German officials who completed a very similar project on their selection process. Because we are specifically targeting the most vulnerable Yazidi women and children, this committee would like to hear more about your selection process. How do you determine who is the most vulnerable? Does religion factor into the determination? How do you identify the most vulnerable Yazidis?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
As I said, in order to determine vulnerability, we look at a number of issues, such as what violence has been meted out to the person, the sexual violence, the degree of human rights violations, and also, being targeted specifically because you are a woman or a child. There are also medical concerns. These are all important.
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
We look at the family composition and if it is a single woman with children. We look at people who are at risk of detention, arrest, or removal. Actually, on religion—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Perhaps you'd like to expand on it, but unfortunately we're already almost 30 seconds over time.
Mr. Saroya, you have five minutes.
December 1st, 2016 / 4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
We are talking about the Yazidi women, the most vulnerable women and girls, and this situation. We heard in the past that there is some disconnect with regard to the UNHCR and the real victims of this. For example, there were 25,000 refugees who came here, and there were only nine or 10 Yazidis. Some of the witnesses previously described the discrimination and described not getting along. In some cases, the UNHCR said that the interview will come in 22 months. That's a real number that was given here.
What can you do differently this time, compared to what you have done previously? Can you compare the situation today with the one last year?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
As I said, if it comes to the Syrian program, the number of Syrian Yazidi is relatively low. We're talking mostly of Iraqi Yazidi. The program this year was mainly geared towards Syrians, so that is one explanation for why there were so few Syrian Yazidis amongst the Syrians: basically, there are not that many.
That said, Iraqi resettlement continues. This House has now put a spotlight on the situation of Yazidi women and girls. It's no secret that this has created a lot of internal discussion, of course, as to how we as UNHCR, together with the Canadian government, can indeed increase the numbers for resettlement of this particular vulnerable group. We have the whole discussion about resources, as we've just had.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, if there's a delay in having a claim heard, if we now put a spotlight more on protecting the vulnerabilities of these Yazidi women and girls, and if there are places in the Canadian resettlement program, then of course we will fast-track their claims and we will prepare the referral dossiers as soon as possible.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Can you talk about the allegations of discrimination against the Yazidi women in Turkey and Lebanon, and many other things? Do you know anything about it?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
There are allegations of discriminatory behaviour by UNHCR in Turkey. I can't comment, because it was new to me when it was testified to. I don't say that it's not true—don't get me wrong—but what I say is that if this is being brought to your attention, they should contact us directly. We have a whole internal procedure in the Inspector General's Office. We need to take this very seriously, because I do not deny in general terms that these situations can happen.
Resettlement Officer, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
If I could add to that, I think it would be helpful. Again, we'd like more specific information. Some of the testimony that took place over the summer was very contradictory. On some points, they seemed to be referring to UNHCR Muslim staff in Greece. The UNHCR doesn't run programs in Greece. I think there are some generalizations that may not have been accurate. Again, we need precise information that we can act upon.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
The 120 days started about 30 days ago. We have only 90 days left to bring 1,000 Yazidis. That was the number we agreed on. Is it a realistic number? Can UNHCR help to bring these 1,000 people in 90 days? Is this a realistic number?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
What I can say again is that in the end, how many Yazidis will be brought to Canada in these 120 days is up to the Government of Canada, in consultation with this House.
As UNHCR, if we get the numbers, we will do everything we can to refer. I can already tell you that we have been discussing initial numbers. We have started today, after the adoption of your motion, and we have already been submitting—to come back to you, Mrs. Kwan—the first referrals. We have not been sitting idle these first months, because time is of the essence here, as we all agree.
Still, I cannot today commit to my colleagues—or to the Canadian government, for that matter—that we will handle this many cases by the end of February. This is all actively being considered. While we are getting there, we do as much as we can.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Are there any other NGOs that can help us in this situation if you cannot bring 1,000 people to the table?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
I'm not sure if it's a matter of others being more capable of doing this than us, because if it comes to resettlement of refugees—Yazidi refugees in Turkey or Syrian refugees in Lebanon—we have a whole system in place together with partner organizations, with NGOs.
Going back to the previous question, they can refer through us. The Canadian government and all of them have a system by which we have agreed that resettlement referrals go through UNHCR, but with the input of all the partners on the ground.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, Mr. van der Klaauw.
Mr. Ehsassi, you have five minutes.
As Mr. Ehsassi prepares himself, perhaps I could ask a couple of quick questions. You said in your opening statement that large numbers of Yazidis in camps in Turkey do not register themselves with the Turkish federal authorities. Is that the state of affairs for all refugees, or is it particular to Yazidis who find themselves as refugees within Turkey?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
That's a very good question. I have to say I can't give a precise answer. What I know is that the Yazidis in southeast Turkey are hosted in municipal camps and have not been registering with the provincial authorities. Now, is this a matter of their not knowing they have to do it, and in that sense this would apply to all the refugees, or is this something that the Yazidis themselves don't want to do? This I have to find out.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, sir. Could you undertake to provide that information to us, as to whether this reluctance to register with federal Turkish authorities is particular to Yazidis or is just a general state of affairs and not particular to the Yazidi refugees? I raise this question because of the concern that's been raised over and over about discrimination, and perhaps it wasn't always exactly clear which authorities were potentially discriminating.
Mr. Ehsassi, you have five minutes, please.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you. My apologies for the delay.
Thank you, Mr. van der Klaauw. With reference to the Yazidis in Turkey, would you mind explaining to us the support programs that are available to them while they are in Turkey, given that they are traumatized?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
I don't have that information as detailed as I have it for what we do in Iraq for the Yazidi IDPs, because some of the support we deliver to refugees in Turkey—or any refugee, be it Iraqi, Afghan, Somali—often goes through implementing partners. In the situation in Turkey, the Turkish authorities, as far as I know—for instance, for the Syrian refugees—have said, “We run it”, as Turkish authorities, if it comes to Syrian assistance.
Turkey is a bit of a special case, but if you wish, I can try to find out more about what type of support, assistance, and services are provided, in particular for the Yazidis, and through whom, and what UNHCR's particular role here is. I can do that.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
That would be very helpful, because there is the question of what the continuity of care should be when they arrive in Canada.
I would like to ask you another question. I understand that your focus is on refugees and not on displaced persons. That said, do you have mechanisms available in northern Iraq to refer Yazidis?
Representative in Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
If it comes to resettlement, we have a mandate for the refugees who have left their countries of origin and gone into a new host country. If it comes to being IDP, of course, we have this whole mandate to protect in-country and to support the government to protect its own people in-country, and we have shelter and everything around it as a responsibility.
If it comes to extracting IDPs, relocating them out of their country of origin into safety abroad, UNHCR normally does not do that. However if, in the case of the Yazidis, the German government has this program and works with the IOM and works with local NGOs, we are present there. We know these organizations.
For instance, we can give logistical support. Our office can be used for interviewing or those things that we can do, but we're not officially involved in such a program. I want to make this very clear, because this is sensitive and concerns the citizens of a state. Again, if other organizations can do it, we are part of the whole humanitarian community here and we have our contacts, so then of course we are supportive behind the scenes, so to speak.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you for that.
I have one last question. Given that our focus is on bringing Yazidi women, what would your thoughts be on bringing their family members as well?