I will try to hurry up.
During the questions, I can also explain a bit about what we do for the Yazidi in northern Iraq among all the other IDPs.
This has been an issue. If it comes to Yazidis in Iraq, we provide these protection assistance services on the ground, but we are not involved in the extraction of IDPs out of Iraq to other countries, be they Yazidis or others, because, as you know, we do resettlement of refugees, and that means people who have gone over a border into another host country.
The Germans have explained how they can do this with other organizations.
I wish to end with two remarks. First of all, I wish to comment briefly on allegations of discriminatory conduct by UNHCR staff against Yazidi refugees, which has been reported in this committee, I think, by witnesses in the summer when you had your previous sessions, and my colleague was there.
I would like to assure your members that HCR makes every effort to vigorously uphold the integrity of our programs for refugees and all the displaced. We have a code of conduct to which our own staff and our partner staff are expected to adhere. If there is any discriminatory conduct—for instance, on religious or other ground—by our own staff or partner staff, that is considered misconduct, and as such, if you have these complaints, I encourage you to inform our inspector general's office in headquarters that deals with those claims. I can give you the email address.
In closing, let me reiterate that in all our humanitarian work, including our resettlement work, we prioritize the most vulnerable at risk. We do not make distinctions on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class, sexual orientation, political opinion, or minority status. We have this approach and have developed these resettlement conditions over many years, and it is critical to ensure that we maintain the continued support of resettlement countries.
That said, it is obvious that prioritization according to vulnerability criteria should and does result in the inclusion of those refugees for refugee resettlement who, by virtue of their membership in an ethnic or a religious minority, have been the victim of extreme violence and widespread and systematic human rights abuses, such as the Yazidi. Yazidi women and girls are obviously, and I repeat obviously, among those most vulnerable, and I wish to assure this committee that UNHCR will do everything within our authority and our means to provide Yazidi women and girls with the protection and assistance they so badly need, including and particularly now by means of resettlement.
Thank you.