Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2026

[David Smolansky]

Cuban agents have participated in oppression and persecution, and one of the root causes of having almost nine million Venezuelans flee the country is human rights violations and crimes against humanity.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

I would like to invite Mr. Zuberi to take the floor for seven minutes.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here today.

I was interested in what Dr. Ahmed said about dealing with long-term displacement and how we deal with the root causes of displacement and off-ramps.

If you want to add anything else to your testimony that you haven't already said, now's the time.

If you can, please be brief. I have a number of questions.

[Kawser Ahmed]

Thank you.

I intended to explain that our shortcut approach to dealing with mass displacement is a humanitarian approach, which is absolutely needed, and at some point it is possibly the only thing we can do.

However, we often neglect the idea of dealing with the conflict where it originated. The case study that we are now running, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada, is trying to find out exactly what model we can come up with. We are at the midway point of the project, and we have had a series of discussions in Bangladesh, the largest host of refugees in that part of the world. In April or May, we are going to the ASEAN region to shape up this model of intervention so that conflict can be addressed right in the root. In whatever dialogue we have had with Rohingyas, all of them wanted to go back. Most don't want to come to Canada.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I've seen that. I've visited Cox's Bazar and the Rohingya refugees, and it was exactly as you said: The Rohingya wanted to go back to their homeland. They wanted to return to their homeland, which is the hope of each and every refugee I've spoken with.

I'd like to turn to Ms. Schaefer. We're also talking about the Middle East and Palestinians in this testimony. I know that you're with a UN agency, which was born out of the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II. The UN system and the international law that was born out of such darkness is really what guides us today.

Can you explain to us the importance of UNRWA and how it plays a critical role in the lives of Palestinian refugees?

[Anne Kathrin Schaefer]

Just to clarify, IOM is the UN system's migration agency, but we are a member state-driven institution, with Canada as a member state. We're not a fund or a program and not directly....

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I'm aware. I'm just asking you—somebody involved in the UN system—to elaborate a bit upon that.

[Anne Kathrin Schaefer]

While it is well understood that the overall mandate of UNRWA has greatly expanded over the last years, there is currently no alternative to UNRWA as an agency that provides continuous, life-saving assistance to people in continuous need. The humanitarian situation overall in OPT remains extraordinarily precarious. It's still very challenging to get life-saving assistance into the country and to the people in need. This is for the entire territory.

There is no alternative to UNRWA, currently, to support this. That's really the short answer.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I will also ask a follow-up.

We're talking about externally and internally displaced people. We just heard about the example of the Rohingya, who are externally displaced. Within Gaza, Palestinian people are being internally displaced.

To your knowledge, how many times have residents within Gaza been internally displaced? You might not have an exact answer, but it seems to have been multiple times. Is that correct?

[Anne Kathrin Schaefer]

That is correct.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Are you familiar with what's happening in the West Bank right now?

[Anne Kathrin Schaefer]

I am, to the extent that it's possible.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

What's happening with respect to coercion of people and settler violence in the West Bank, and how is that impacting patterns of migration?

[Anne Kathrin Schaefer]

It is not possible for me to answer that. It's better to ask someone in a specialized agency.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I understand and respect that.

I want to go to an earlier witness.

Ms. Tower, you spoke about the program Canada has to welcome those who are going through the horror in Gaza, including students. The other program we have reunites loved ones who are now under such dire conditions.

Do you want to elaborate any further upon those two points—the students and the general program?

[Amali Tower]

I can tell you that I'm not a specialist in Canadian immigration.

I have done the vast majority of my resettlement work with UNHCR and the U.S. State Department's refugee program, which is currently being gutted. I looked at Canada and the hemispheric border, at partnerships and at the very strong, robust resettlement and immigration system Canada has always had. When I was at UNHCR—maybe you won't be at all surprised to hear this, sir—the number of refugees who asked to be resettled in Canada versus the United States.... It always broke my heart to tell them that I had many fewer slots and opportunities for people to be considered for Canada rather than the U.S. There are a number of reasons for this.

I'll add that, from my own experience, now is the time to create more opportunities for people who have no durable solutions, with the extent to which numbers of displaced people keep growing, the continuous narrowing of political co-operation, the absolute dismantling of multilateralism and international law, and the financial architecture that underpins humanitarian and development assistance....

To this I'll add the climate crisis and how it underpins and inflames every single thing that we already know is driving displacement.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Thank you.

I'd like to ask this of Dr. Wilf: Do you believe Palestinian people exist?

[Einat Wilf]

Of course they do. That is a very odd question.

The tragedy, of course, is that the ideology they have constructed around themselves as a collective is an ideology of destruction that has, for a century, prioritized—

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

On the point about destruction, do you believe there's a humanitarian crisis happening in Gaza right now? I know you are a former Israeli elected official in the Knesset. Do you currently believe there's a humanitarian crisis in Gaza?

[Einat Wilf]

It's not a matter of belief. At the moment, there are—

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Maybe my microphone wasn't working properly.

Is there a humanitarian crisis right now in Gaza, in your opinion?

[Einat Wilf]

Right now there are thousands of trucks entering Gaza every day and going to areas under enemy control. Ultimately, the question is—

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I'm not sure if you heard. My mic, when it goes red, usually works properly.

Is there a humanitarian crisis in Gaza?

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[Einat Wilf]

At the moment, there are—