Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 7th, 2017

[The Chair (Mr. Robert Oliphant (Don Valley West, Lib.)), Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I call to order the 82nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration for the consideration of a briefing on resettlement issues related to Yazidi women and girls.

This is really a follow-up study with respect to the status of the government operation on its commitment to resettle Yazidis to Canada.

I am very pleased to welcome officials from the department here today. Thank you for joining us, both from Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, as well as Citizenship and Immigration. I begin with thanking you for your public service and also for your willingness to come and brief us today on this very important issue.

We'll begin with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. It's over to you to decide how to use your time.

[Dawn Edlund, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to appear before your committee to discuss this important topic and to update the committee on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's work on resettling survivors of Daesh to Canada.

I am joined today by Corinne Prince, director general of IRCC's settlement and integration policy branch, and by Jean-Marc Gionet, the acting senior director of the resettlement operations division. Also joining us today are Sean Boyd, the executive director for Middle East relations, and his colleague Tara Carney.

My colleagues and I will be pleased to answer any of your questions following my brief opening remarks.

As you know, in October of 2016 the House of Commons voted unanimously in support of a motion for the Government of Canada to provide protection to Yazidi women and girls who are fleeing genocide.

As Canada offers protection on the basis of vulnerability, rather than religion or ethnicity, the government's response to this motion focused on all survivors of Daesh for whom resettlement would be an appropriate solution. The government committed to resettling 1,200 survivors of Daesh, including vulnerable Yazidi women and children, by the end of 2017. We have also been prioritizing any applications for privately sponsored refugees who are survivors of Daesh.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has worked closely with the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, resettlement assistance program service provider organizations in Canada, and other partners in order to meet this commitment.

The UNHCR has helped us to identify vulnerable Yazidi women and children and other survivors of Daesh and their family members, both inside and outside of Iraq.

Mr. Chair, I am happy to report that as of October 29, 807 survivors have already arrived in Canada, 747 as government-assisted refugees and 60 as privately sponsored refugees. Of those 807 individuals, 81% are Yazidi, including 230 women, 178 men, and 398 children. Of all the individuals who arrived in Canada by October 29, 39% came from Iraq, 35% from Lebanon, and 26% from Turkey.

We have identified and interviewed all remaining cases to be resettled. Of the 1,383 individuals who have been referred to us, almost all of the remaining are from Iraq and the applications are all well in process.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada remains committed to meeting the target of resettling 1,200 survivors of Daesh by the end of this year, notwithstanding the fact that operating in the region is complex and can pose risks to the welfare and safety of the refugees, our partners, and our staff.

We continue to monitor political and security developments in the region, and to assess any possible implications this may have on our operation.

We also continue to schedule or reschedule flights for those whose travel was cancelled in September and October due to the ongoing international flight ban out of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Although refusal rates are low, arrivals are sometimes delayed for medical, logistical, or other reasons.

As we mentioned at the outset of this initiative, we don't want to bring these vulnerable individuals to Canada in large groups, as they need added supports that we want to ensure are in place in the receiving communities.

Barring any new, emerging security, exit, or transportation considerations beyond our control, we expect to reach our goal of welcoming 1,200 individuals to Canada by December 31.

In addition to the 1,200 government-assisted refugees that represent the government commitment, we are also facilitating the private sponsorship of individuals who fall within this vulnerable group, so more Yazidi women and girls as well as other survivors of Daesh, are arriving in Canada as privately sponsored refugees.

In choosing where to send new arrivals, we considered the extent to which communities had an existing Yazidi diaspora, adequate medical and psychosocial supports, availability of interpreters, and social service provider organizations with experience with similar population groups.

We also took into consideration the advice of Yazidi leaders in Iraq and Canada who emphasized the importance of connections to the religious community in Canada, allowing for the organic formation of community networks amongst the newly resettled families.

To date, the majority of arrivals under this initiative have been received in Toronto, London, Winnipeg, and Calgary. We anticipate sending individuals and families to Lethbridge as well.

Of course, when applicants identify a connection to another location in Canada, all efforts are made to ensure that they are destined to an area where they can be close to family or friends and be able to receive necessary supports.

To assist our service provider organizations with the settlement and integration needs of this population, migration officers and physicians with the International Organization for Migration identified specific medical and resettlement needs for each individual and this was shared in advance of their arrival. As well, our department developed and circulated a Yazidi population profile detailing demographic and health characteristics as well as cultural considerations for this vulnerable population.

To assist their successful settlement and integration, all government-assisted refugees, including the survivors of Daesh, receive settlement services both pre- and post-arrival. As such, the International Organization for Migration delivers “orientation to Canada” training to all survivors of Daesh before their departure. This orientation provides them with accurate, relevant information and supports, so that they can make informed decisions about their new life in Canada, develop realistic expectations, and begin the settlement process.

In Canada, IRCC-funded resettlement assistance program service providers play a major role in welcoming the survivors of Daesh and providing transportation centres. Their role is to provide post-arrival services to government-supported refugees to address their immediate and essential needs.

Following their initial settlement, the newcomers receive support services from IRCC-funded settlement service providers including, among other things, language training, crisis counselling, and interpretation. There are also targeted services for youth, such as settlement support services in schools, homework clubs, and art and recreation-based activities, that are available.

The organizations here in Canada have been coordinating and sharing lessons learned amongst themselves, as well as our department, to meet the needs of these newcomers. In addition, IRCC-funded local immigration partnerships, known as LIPs, are providing support to survivors of Daesh. These LIPs are playing an important role in facilitating supports during the process of resettling and integrating Syrian refugees. They have partnership networks that aim to coordinate services for newcomers at the local, community level, by bringing together various stakeholders. Those include employers, school boards, health centres, other levels of government, service provider organizations, professional associations, ethnocultural and faith-based organizations, and others in the social services sector.

Finally, the department also monitors progress in meeting our commitment to the resettlement of these newcomers to Canada.

Regular meetings are held at the local level between the department and service providers, to address challenges, discuss progress in addressing our commitment and lessons learned, and any other issues that may need attention. We are engaging these organizations again later this week.

Mr. Chair, I have provided an overview of where our operation to resettle survivors of Daesh currently stands. My colleagues and I will now be happy to answer any questions the committee members might pose, and to provide any further details that members request.

Thank you very much.

I will now make way for my colleague from Global Affairs Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Boyd, the floor is yours.

[Sean Boyd, Executive Director, Middle East Relations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Good morning, Mr. Chair and honourable members of this committee.

I have been asked to provide an update on Canada's engagement in Iraq and to outline the current situation in the country. I hope this will provide some useful context for today's discussion on the Yazidi resettlement program.

Last year, my predecessor briefed you on the expansion of our diplomatic presence in Iraq. The expansion has allowed Canada to deepen its relations with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government. Our diplomatic staff has regular access to a wide range of interlocutors within the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government. We also have regular interactions with local officials such as governors and mayors, the United Nations, as well as community representatives and civil society organizations.

The majority of Iraqi Yazidis live in the northern region of Iraq, in Nineveh province and parts of the Kurdistan region. The two largest communities are in Sheikhan, northeast of Mosul, and in Sinjar, which is near the Syrian border, 80 kilometres west of Mosul. Both of these are in Nineveh province.

Following the siege of Sinjar by Daesh in 2014, many Yazidis fled their communities. They ended up in camps for internally displaced persons, or IDPs, in host communities within Iraq, mainly in Dohuk, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah provinces, or as refugees in other countries like Turkey and Greece. Our increased presence in Erbil has enabled us to engage regularly with different representatives from the Yazidi community and maintain discussions with local authorities and the United Nations. The office of the Canadian embassy in Erbil has also provided assistance to IRCC's selection teams who travelled to Iraq to complete the necessary screening of resettlement applicants.

The Iraqi security forces and Kurdish forces have made significant progress over the past year against Daesh, notably by liberating Mosul and Hawija. The situation across Iraq continues to be fluid however. Security in parts of the country, including in the Kurdistan region, remains volatile.

Global Affairs Canada has recommended that Canadians avoid travel to the country and we are monitoring the situation to ensure the safety and security of our staff. Iraq will be heading into parliamentary elections in May of 2018. There may be tensions in the lead-up to those elections.

On September 25, the Kurdistan Regional Government held a referendum on independence, despite a ruling by the supreme court of Iraq declaring the referendum unconstitutional. The Government of Iraq responded by deploying Iraqi security forces to take control of several disputed territories near the borders of the Kurdistan region, including Kirkuk, Sinjar, and areas surrounding Mosul. It also cancelled all international flights into the Kurdistan region and took over some border crossings previously controlled by Kurdish authorities.

Flight restrictions have made travel in and out of the Kurdistan region more difficult for international visitors, and it is not yet clear when the restrictions will be lifted. The Iraqi security forces took over control of these regions without major incident, though a few minor clashes did occur, particularly around Kirkuk. The composition of the Kurdistan government remains uncertain, as do next steps in the ongoing political standoff with Baghdad.

Heading into the national elections in 2018, the fundamental differences over constitutional rights and wealth sharing remain unresolved.

In the fight against Daesh, the Iraqi security forces with the assistance of the Global Coalition against Daesh continue to liberate Daesh's remaining pockets of territory in western Iraq. Daesh's control has been dramatically reduced, and it now holds less than 10% of the country. Iraqi and international efforts are now increasingly focusing on stabilizing liberated areas and creating an enabling environment for reconciliation. The conflict has created millions of internally displaced persons with estimates of approximately 400,000 Yazidis living in IDP camps or in host communities. The conflict has also left entire cities and villages in complete ruin. The Global Coalition has placed immediate priority on clearing these areas of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices, and reinstating basic services such as water, electricity, and education, where possible.

Canada is supporting these efforts, but it will take time and many Iraqis will require continued humanitarian assistance for the foreseeable future.

Canada's humanitarian assistance is provided on the basis of vulnerability and needs. Given that the Yazidis are a particularly vulnerable group that has been disproportionately affected by Daesh's campaign of violence, they are part of the population supported through our humanitarian assistance. For example, our UN partners are providing comprehensive services in the camps and host communities where the Yazidis have sought refuge. This includes food, water, access to education, medical care and shelter to displaced Yazidis.

In particular, with Canadian support, the United Nations Population Fund has established a women's centre at the Dohuk hospital, which provides clinical and non-clinical treatment for the most extreme cases of sexual and gender-based violence. Between September 2014 and October 2016, a total of 824 survivors received assistance at this centre, including Yazidi women and girls who have suffered atrocities under Daesh. The centre continues to function today.

In addition, our funding to NGO partners over the past few years has enabled the provision of health care services at IDP camps and in communities where many Yazidis are located. Through multi-year programming under Canada's Middle East strategy, we are providing over $150 million in humanitarian assistance to Iraq to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including the Yazidis.

The conflict with Daesh has also exacerbated inter-sectarian divisions and created an environment of distrust amongst communities. Many, including minority groups, fear discrimination or reprisal if they return to their homes. Canada is assisting in stabilization and reconciliation efforts in hopes of creating an enabling environment that will allow internally displaced persons to return home safely. This includes funding the clearance of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices and supporting community-level dispute resolution and reconciliation initiatives. To this end, Canada is supporting anti-retribution campaigns, supporting community action groups focused on addressing potential local conflict, and supporting institutions addressing property and land disputes in northern Iraq. Ultimately, our stabilization efforts are addressing some of the very challenges that enable Daesh to divide communities in northern Iraq, including traditional Yazidi areas.

The Yazidis have suffered horrendous atrocities at the hands of Daesh. The United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic has found that these acts of violence constitute genocide. Members of the Yazidi community have told us that they do not feel safe and that they continue to fear Daesh sleeper cells and other forms of religious extremism.

Canada's resettlement program is assisting the most vulnerable of the community, women and children, who have survived inhumane abuses against them, but Canada is also assisting the Yazidis and other vulnerable minorities who remain in Iraq. By providing humanitarian assistance and supporting stabilization efforts, we hope the Yazidis can eventually return to their homes and continue practising their culture and religion in freedom.

Thank you again for the invitation to appear before you today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you both very much.

I'm sure the committee has lots of questions.

We begin with Mr. Sarai.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

First of all, I want to thank you all. We're all well aware that despite representatives of the previous government having gone and seen Daesh's brutal attacks on the Yazidi people, the previous government really did nothing to help any of the Yazidi people or to help in their resettlement. As soon as the UN declared the attack a genocide, this government acted swiftly and quickly. We're happy that you made arrangements for the commitment and resettlement of 1,200 Yazidi people, and I'm glad to see that resettlement is on track.

Newcomers to Canada all require specialized and subsidized services based on their unique experiences before they come. This question is for IRCC. What settlement services are required by Yazidi newcomers that distinguish them from other past and present immigration groups?

[Dawn Edlund]

I'll ask my colleague Ms. Prince to supplement this, but given the extensive trauma that these individuals have survived, including torture, sexual violence, or deaths of their family members in front of them, a tremendous amount of psychosocial supports and mental health supports need to be put in place.

As I said earlier, we have modified the way in which we conduct our interviews and the way in which the medical examinations are done so we're collecting more relevant information about the specific needs, and then that's being passed on to our settlement provider organizations so they can prepare in advance of people's arrival. Our local immigration partnerships have then ensured, working with us, that the settlement supports are actually available so that we don't have gaps in service.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

How much of the $27.7 million set aside for the resettlement of the Iraqi refugees is allotted for settlement services?

[Dawn Edlund]

Budget 2017 set out $27.7 million. We later did an evaluation of the amount of money we thought we would actually need and refined our costing, so we've asked for $21.7 million. I think about two-thirds of that is related to ongoing income support, interim federal health, and the settlement supports that will be available over the next three-year period.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

To Global Affairs, what is the assessment of the environment in Iraq in a post-Daesh world? Do you think some of the Yazidi people will be able to return, and do you think they will return?

[Sean Boyd]

Post-Daesh Iraq, again, remains an area that requires quite a bit of stability, stabilization support, so part of our efforts working with coalition members is to engage in stabilization programs to make the communities safe. That obviously requires political will on the parts of the community members, but we are providing support through stabilization programs, including policing, to help to develop a confidence amongst the communities that they can return safely and deal with issues of demining and unexploded ordnances.

This is an area very heavily polluted with munitions, so there is a need to clear those areas and to ensure the restoration of services, ensure that electricity, water, sanitation, and education services are flowing. That's the focus of the international community going into this next phase of post-Daesh priority for Iraq. Then, based on that, our hope is that community members, including the Yazidis, will feel that they are able to return safely to their communities.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

In what ways has the Canadian special immigration measure complemented pre-existing aid efforts in Iraq? We assumed that we were giving aid in terms of policing. How do you think this special immigration measure to bring 1,200 Yazidis has helped to stabilize the area and helped those people?

[Dawn Edlund]

I would answer that in terms of saying that we worked with the regional government of Kurdistan and also the Iraqi government over a targeted program of 1,200, similar to what Germany had done. The goal was to identify the most vulnerable, those who either could not reintegrate back into their communities or who could not receive the necessary medical or psychosocial supports that they needed on the ground in Iraq. It was really getting those most vulnerable people out of a difficult situation. I don't know if that had any impact whatsoever in terms of the overall stability of the community.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Would you say this is the largest resettlement of Yazidis, or matched with the German model? Is there any other country that has assisted in the resettlement of the Yazidi people that you're aware of, more than Canada or Germany?

[Dawn Edlund]

There are a couple of other countries that have been doing resettlement efforts in relation to the Yazidis, but I think Canada and Germany are the leaders in terms of the numbers that we've resettled.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Okay.

Most Yazidis speak Northern Kurdish, the Kermanji dialect. What translation and interpretation services or resources does IRCC have on hand for the Northern Kurdish language?

[Dawn Edlund]

We arranged with the International Organization for Migration that, when we were interviewing overseas, we had appropriate translation and interpretation services available. We continue to work with those translation teams in each of our five interview trips. Equally, post-arrival in Canada, we've been working with Yazidi communities in our four core cities—soon to be five—to make sure that we have those additional interpretation services available.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Do those four or five core cities have language available to them or Northern Kurdish or Yazidi communities that help them assist?

[Dawn Edlund]

Yes, they do.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Do they have places of worship for them as well, or is that something being arranged?

[Dawn Edlund]

They do. I mean, when we resettled the 23,000 Iraqis, we created pockets of Yazidi diaspora in Canada in those four main communities that I mentioned: Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, and London. We have kind of a core of Yazidis already present from that previous resettlement movement, and that's why we chose those four cities, and now five, for the majority of our government-assisted refugees. That infrastructure is there in terms of community support, religious community, etc.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Was it easy to extract those who were in northern Iraq, the Yazidi families from there, or was that a challenging environment in which to select and extract?

[Dawn Edlund]

It's a complex operating environment due to safety concerns for everyone. It's not that complicated to get people out. It's been a bit more complicated now that the international flight situation has been stopped out of northern Iraq, so we've been finding ways to work around that to continue bringing people to Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Rempel.

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

Thank you.

Of the 573 Yazidis who've been brought to Canada, can you please provide the committee with a breakdown based on gender, the city in which they've been resettled, and the location in which they were identified?