Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 9th, 2017

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

All of you know that Canada does not typically ask refugees or immigration applicants to declare their religion or ethnicity in their applications or in the interviews they have with visa officers. In this case, Canada did provide the opportunity for applicants to volunteer this information. I understand that some Yazidis often are reluctant to declare this information. Could you expand on their concerns about declaring themselves as Yazidis to the government officials and being tracked as such?

[Nafiya Naso]

I can speak to that. I know a few families in Turkey, for example, who are outside of refugee camps and are living amongst other religious groups. They fear talking about religion within other groups. Because of everything the Yazidis have gone through, they are therefore afraid to release that information—at least those families that I know of who are outside of refugee camps are.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

What about those who are in the camps?

[Nafiya Naso]

All the Yazidis in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey are in segregated camps. They are in Yazidi-only camps.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Ms. Abdullah, would you like to add to that? You deal with many of them.

[Dalal Abdallah]

Yes. I believe that a lot of the Yazidis, as Nafiya said, are afraid to expose their culture and religion because they are targeted. They are being targeted in the Middle East.

For the majority of them, when they do come to the interview process and are asked about it on the application, I don't think there is any problem with saying they are Yazidis, as long as they have some sort of trust or guidance in terms of knowing that they are talking to a government official, and not to other governments that are trying to do something to them. I think that then they are very comfortable in saying who they are and that they want to be helped.

As Yazidis, we are screaming for help. Nobody knew us as Yazidis until this genocide happened, and here we are. At first, the question was, “Who are the Yazidis? Who are these people and where do they live?” Hardly anybody had heard of us. We are coming out and speaking out. We are having a stronger voice, and we are saying that we are Yazidis, that we need help, and we are being targeted.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I understand that community is very important to the Yazidi people—as it is to any community—and to their successful integration into Canada. Can you tell us more about the Yazidi community that is already in Canada? How large is it? Where is it located? How equipped are they to help welcome the new families that are coming here?

[Dalal Abdallah]

I believe that at one point the largest population was in London, Ontario, where I am from. Also, Winnipeg has a population that is growing fairly—

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

How many families do you think there would be in London?

[Dalal Abdallah]

I believe that in London, Ontario, it's growing. The last time I checked, the population was around 400, but that number is growing with incoming refugees. For Winnipeg, I'm not too sure.

[Hadji Hesso]

The number is almost equal to that in London, Ontario. Now we're noticing that there are a few families who have been arriving in Calgary also. I think there are about seven families in Calgary today. They have recently arrived.

[Dalal Abdallah]

There are some in Scarborough as well.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

How equipped are they to welcome and help the newcomers?

[Dalal Abdallah]

We are very equipped. We have an amazing community in London, Ontario. We have the London InterCommunity Health Centre that provides beyond medical services, such as counselling, and referrals to anything that they require or need. They are very supportive of the women's shelters and keep connections with them. Also, the hospital I am working at has developed a program just for refugees. It's not necessarily for Yazidis, but I do work there and make sure that those services are provided to every woman, girl, man, or little boy who needs them.

One of the barriers is that, because these are special services and because the second language is Kurmanji, it's very difficult to get accurate translation and have that passed on to psychiatrists and psychologists. It's very hard.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm afraid I need to end you there. You'll get another time.

Ms. Rempel.

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

Typically how these types of studies at committee work is that, after hearing from witnesses, the committee gathers recommendations and presents a report to Parliament, requiring the government to respond to those recommendations. Would you find that helpful for this study?

I'll go down the row.

[Lorne Weiss]

Very much so.

[Hadji Hesso]

Yes.

[Dalal Abdallah]

Absolutely.

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

Excellent.

In terms of recommendations this committee could provide, I've just been taking notes on some of things you've said. Perhaps I'll use my time to go through what those recommendations would be and to just get a yes or no if you think it would be helpful.

First would be perhaps allocating a dedicated quota within the privately sponsored refugee system, or PSR system, in the upcoming year to the Yazidi community. Would that be helpful?

[Lorne Weiss]

Very much.

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

How much? What would the quota be, or should we just lift the cap entirely for the Yazidi community?

[Dalal Abdallah]

At this point, I think we should lift the cap entirely. I mean, we haven't done enough for the Yazidis, and we need to do that. This is the time—

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

Okay, so then, lift the cap on the privately sponsored refugee program for Yazidi families.

[Lorne Weiss]

I think the cap will be self-monitoring in essence because of the ability to raise funds.