Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on May 25th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 19 of the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the subcommittee on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the subcommittee is meeting on its study on internally and externally displaced people across the world.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. Pursuant to the Standing Orders, members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of witnesses and members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen, you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation: floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel. I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

I would now like to welcome the first panel of witnesses.

We have, as an individual, Ann Fitz-Gerald, director, Balsillie School of International Affairs, who is with us by video conference. We have Dr. Ardi Imseis, professor, Faculty of Law, Queen's University. From Doctors Without Borders, we have Michael Lawson, humanitarian representative to Canada. From the Global Centre for Pluralism, we have Meredith Preston McGhie, secretary-general, and Dr. Michael Youash, senior manager, global analysis. From the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, we have Youssef Jai, senior policy adviser appearing by video conference.

Welcome to you all.

Now I would like to give every one of you five minutes for your introduction. Please do your best to respect the time.

I would like to welcome Ann Fitz-Gerald to take the floor for five minutes.

Madame, the floor is yours.

[Ann Fitz-Gerald, Director, Balsillie School of International Affairs, As an Individual]

Honourable Chair and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to address the issue of internally and externally displaced persons globally.

Today, the world is experiencing levels of displacement unprecedented in modern history. More than 120 million people are currently forcibly displaced worldwide. The majority remain internally displaced within their own countries, while tens of millions have crossed borders as refugees or asylum seekers.

Across many regions, conflict is no longer driven by a single cause, but by an interaction among governance fragility, climate stress, economic exclusion, demographic pressures, food insecurity, transnational criminal economies and geopolitical competition.

My first key message is this. Conflict today is persistent, ongoing and driven by the collective impact of multiple reinforcing pressures. This is where work on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus is helpful. It moves away from siloed policy approaches and toward instruments that seek to address the collective systems-based effect of the pressures and the shift—the objective—to broader resilience capacity and resilience governance, as well as new funding models that can support this.

My second message is that the character of conflict is changing in ways that intensify displacement and complicate humanitarian protection. Modern conflicts increasingly target critical civilian infrastructure, telecommunications, dams, water facilities, energy grids, hospitals and more. Armed groups and state actors recognize that infrastructure disruption weakens governments, fragments societies and undermines economic life. Autonomous systems, new weapons capability and even cyber-hacking are enabling these disruptions from afar.

This has direct implications for displacement. Populations are forced to flee not only the violence but also the collapse of water systems, electricity, health care and food networks. Increasingly, displaced populations disperse into rural and peri-urban areas that are difficult for humanitarian organizations to access based on the growing incidence of urban-based warfare, which is subject to precision strikes on critical infrastructure. This is challenging both humanitarian access and the protection-of-civilians agenda more broadly.

Technology-based humanitarian support has become important beyond mapping and tracking applications, which have been developed in recent years. There is a growing need for autonomous support systems, trusted communications networks, fact-checking tools and information authentication mechanisms to protect vulnerable populations from misinformation, exploitation and manipulation.

My third message concerns human rights implications for people on the move.

Displacement drivers are increasingly blurred, with individuals fleeing conflict. As international legal and institutional frameworks tend to treat these drivers separately, many displaced individuals fall into protection gaps. Along migration routes, rights protections remain uneven. There is often a patchwork of legal mechanisms, inconsistent asylum systems and differing standards of protection among countries of origin, transit and destination.

One particularly important principle is that of non-detention and how individuals on the move should not be criminalized through detention-based approaches. Registration systems, temporary documentation and rights-based administration are far more effective and humane responses than detention practices, which often deepen vulnerability and trauma.

Recent policy shifts in North America and Europe also raise important concerns. Increasing restrictions under safe third country frameworks and externalized migration arrangements sometimes risk pushing vulnerable populations towards more dangerous migration routes while weakening procedural protections.

My final message is that Canada has an opportunity to exercise principled leadership in this space. This includes investments in digital systems, support for humanitarian innovation and responsible technology deployment into fragile environments.

Canada can continue advocating for a rights-centred approach to displacement—one that recognizes the dignity and rights of people on the move, regardless of whether they are internally displaced, refugees, asylum seekers or migrants affected by overlapping crises. It can do this through the global compact for migration, the global compact on internally displaced people and the UN's “Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement”.

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Ms. Fitz-Gerald. I appreciate that you kept to your allotted speaking time.

I now invite Ardi Imseis, a professor at Queen's University, to take the floor for five minutes.

[Dr. Ardi Imseis, Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen's University, As an Individual]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I shall address the most prolonged refugee problem in the post-World War II era, namely the case of the Palestine refugees, and what Canada can do about it. I do so as one of the very few Canadians who have ever served in senior roles with both UNRWA and the UNHCR, which I did between 2002 and 2014.

I have three points.

First, UNRWA's mandate is part of what the United Nations has determined is its “permanent responsibility” for the question of Palestine. This responsibility originates in the unsuccessful attempt by the United Nations General Assembly to partition Palestine without the consent of the Palestinian people in 1947 and, of course, the ensuing “Nakba” of 1948, during which at least 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly exiled from their country.

UNRWA was created in 1949 to provide direct relief and works programs to the Palestine refugees until their plight was resolved in accordance with international law, including their right to return, to restitution and to compensation; however, these rights have consistently been violated by Israel, which has forbidden the return of the Palestine refugees simply because they are not Jewish. As a result, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly renewed the mandate of UNRWA, most recently for a further three years, in December 2025. Today, some 5.9 million Palestine refugees are registered with UNRWA, making them eligible for education, health, relief and social services in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and occupied Palestine.

This committee has heard assertions that UNRWA's practice of extending refugee status to descendants of Palestine refugees is an anomaly. That is incorrect. Under international law, when durable solutions remain elusive over successive generations, international refugee protection—whether done through UNHCR or UNRWA—extends to the descendants of refugees on the basis of family unity. To blame UNRWA for the continuation of the Palestine refugee problem is, quite frankly, a baseless canard.

Second, the Palestine refugees are today facing their most difficult moment in history. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed or injured approximately a quarter of a million Palestinians through starvation and indiscriminate bombardment. The vast majority of them were Palestine refugees. A further two million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israel.

In January 2024, the International Court of Justice determined that Israel is plausibly engaged in genocide in Gaza. Hundreds of UNRWA staff, together with their families, have been killed and injured while hundreds of UNRWA installations, including its headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, have been unlawfully destroyed, damaged or commandeered by Israel.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has described UNRWA as “the backbone of the United Nations humanitarian relief operations” in Gaza. Citing spurious allegations that upwards of 10% of UNRWA staff are terrorists, in October 2024, Israel passed legislation banning UNRWA operations in occupied Palestine. In October 2025, the International Court of Justice determined that Israel's allegations are wholly unsubstantiated, that its legislation is unlawful and that Israel is obliged to facilitate UNRWA operations in occupied Palestine. Israel, of course, refuses to do this.

It is therefore vital that Canada puts pressure on Israel to reverse course.

Finally, while UNRWA is vital to helping Palestine refugees, it must be said that no measure of support for agency operations can replace the need for a durable solution. It is often overlooked that Israel's decades-long ethnic cleansing of the Palestine refugees, its wholesale dispossession and usurpation of their property, its mass denationalization of that population and its denial of those refugees' right to return and to restitution constitute gross and systematic violations of international law, all of which have been documented by the United Nations for decades and continue to this very day.

Therefore, in addition to Canada's principled support for UNRWA's humanitarian operations, Ottawa must redouble its efforts to help find a durable solution to the Palestine refugee problem, including the implementation of their right to return, to restitution and to compensation in accordance with international law. Until such time as Canada does so, it must also immediately open its doors to Palestinian refugees fleeing the ravages in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Thank you so very much, Mr. Chair. I look forward to questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Dr. Imseis.

Now I would like to invite Mr. Michael Lawson to take the floor for five minutes, please.

The floor is yours.

[Michael Lawson, Humanitarian Representative to Canada, Doctors Without Borders]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of this subcommittee, for inviting me to speak to you today on the subject of internally and externally displaced populations.

I'm here representing Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins sans Frontières, better known as MSF, which delivers emergency humanitarian medical care to people affected by conflict and crisis around the world.

MSF is not an organization that specializes in migration issues, but we are direct witnesses to the humanitarian and health consequences faced by displaced populations. The United Nations estimates that 136 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced, and many of them are among our patients in the more than 70 countries where we operate.

Our job, as MSF, is to provide medical care to people who have nowhere else to turn, and it is hard to imagine anyone who fits that description more than people who have been forced to flee their homes to escape violence, persecution or disasters. Many have been exposed to significant levels of trauma or require advanced levels of psychological care in addition to what are sometimes complex medical needs. Shelters are often overcrowded and under-resourced, and the risk of disease transmission is high. Forcibly displaced people must also frequently depend on organizations such as ours for medical care, and on other agencies for shelter, food, drinking water and protection.

Unfortunately, this global support system is facing collapse. Widespread cuts to international humanitarian assistance budgets by traditional donor countries have left response agencies, in many crisis zones, unable to provide the services needed to help displaced people to survive. Our organization sees first-hand the devastating gaps in the global response to forced displacement that countries such as Canada can and must take steps to fill.

The ongoing conflict in Sudan is one example. It has been called the world's largest humanitarian crisis. It is also the largest displacement crisis, with 4.5 million people driven by violence into neighbouring countries and a staggering 9.1 million people displaced inside Sudan itself. People who have been forced by this conflict to leave their homes, in search of health and safety, have struggled to find either. Within Sudan, the places where people seek refuge have been deliberately targeted by the warring parties, and dire living conditions are increasing the risk of outbreaks of diseases, including measles and cholera.

The situation is little better for those who have managed to flee across Sudan's borders. In the informal settlements in Chad and South Sudan, living conditions are frequently abysmal. Displaced arrivals face overcrowding, disease outbreaks and limited access to food or clean water.

Sudan is one example. Around the world, from the Bay of Bengal to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from Gaza to Haiti, violence, conflict and disasters are driving displacement and creating a multitude of large-scale humanitarian crises, each of which requires a scaled-up response.

Unfortunately, we are meeting at a time when the humanitarian response activities around the world are scaling down because of funding cuts, even as needs are going up. As an independently funded organization, MSF continues to respond to many of the world's worst emergencies, but we are finding ourselves increasingly alone, and we cannot hope to meet such immense needs by ourselves.

Canadians have rightly prided themselves on this country's principled and committed approach to humanitarian assistance, which has prioritized meeting the needs of the world's most vulnerable people, even when others have conspicuously failed to do so. It is now more urgent than ever for Canada to remain committed to these principles and to expand its response to humanitarian needs at the very moment when others are turning away.

In its next federal budget, therefore, it is crucial that Canada's government announce an increase in international humanitarian assistance funding and demonstrate to the rest of the world that providing assistance to people with nowhere left to turn isn't just a feel-good spending option that can be cut when times are hard. Rather, it is an obligation based on principles and values that must be upheld.

I'd like to end these remarks by emphasizing that funding alone is not enough. MSF also works in the displacement camps in Bangladesh, where more than one million Rohingya refugees have remained confined for nearly nine years, since violence drove them from their homes in Myanmar. Recent funding cuts have decimated the services, including food rations, on which they depend. It is crucial for these cuts to be reversed in order to ensure their survival. That is the essence of humanitarian assistance.

The Rohingya and others like them cannot be left in perpetual limbo, with no chance of return and no future ahead. Canada and others must also put in the work to find a political solution that can make a future possible and give people who have been left with nothing a reason to hope. Global indifference and, indeed, hopelessness cannot be an option.

I'd be happy to discuss all these examples and what else Canada can do in response, in more detail, in the question session that follows.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Mr. Lawson.

I would now like to invite Ms. Meredith Preston McGhie to take the floor, please.

[Meredith Preston McGhie, Secretary General, Global Centre for Pluralism]

Thank you, Chair and subcommittee members, for inviting us to appear.

One in every 70 people on earth is impacted by displacement. The Global Centre for Pluralism is not an operational, humanitarian or settlement agency. Our testimony therefore focuses on addressing causes of displacement, the challenges in societies in which refugees are settling and tools to help prevent and resolve conflicts. These things can enable return, stem the displacement and better equip societies to welcome displaced persons for all to thrive.

Our research shows that conflict, persecution and instability, key drivers of displacement, arise when societies see diversity as a threat and pluralism has broken down. These harms fall most on marginalized communities, but over time they weaken entire societies, fuelling further cycles of displacement.

Our global pluralism monitor research identifies trends that have translated into conflict and mass displacement. Core findings include the magnitude of the impact of a prolonged weaponization of identity on conflict and displacement, the necessity of having both legal frameworks to support resettlement and social-cultural programs to guard against scapegoating and promote social cohesion, the importance of front-ending pluralist approaches for post-conflict returns to be durable and avoid leading to renewed conflict, and the importance of engaging marginal and conflict-affected communities directly in programs, policies and peace processes.

Our pluralism monitor for Sudan shows the consequences of state-led policies and practices that centre diversity as a threat. The official state ideology of unity in conformity, and the exclusion of groups not conforming to majority Arab identity, are at the heart of causes of the conflict that now represents the gravest humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world. The return of displaced populations requires durable peace to prevent repeated displacement. This requires a focus on fostering social cohesion among both returnees and receiving communities.

In Syria, we see the challenges posed by massive levels of displacement to the country's recovery. With 13.5 million people, nearly half the pre-war population, displaced since the beginning of the conflict, the impact of the war—coupled with economic stresses and the influx of returnees—has deepened tensions between Syria's diverse communities. Without proactive strategies to promote social cohesion, the combined impact of displacement and economic decline may lead to further fragmentation and instability.

The physical and psychological toll of displacement must also be considered. Findings at a recent convening of displaced Sudanese youth highlight psychological distress, as well as hopelessness and exhaustion, as major impacts of the war, along with depression and social fragmentation. These things limit the ability of a society to recover and avoid future cycles of conflict and displacement.

Severe restrictions on civic space for youth inside Sudan create conditions in which there is almost no safe space for independent civil action outside humanitarian work. Displacement has affected education, livelihoods, mobility and social stability. This highlights the importance of support to receiving countries, as two-thirds of refugees are in protracted displacement situations globally.

Strategies to integrate displaced populations into the societies require a pluralist focus. This includes combining practical policy supports, such as citizenship pathways and access to services, with efforts to build belonging, social cohesion and connection to receiving communities.

Millions of displaced Sudanese youth face significant challenges as they aim to engage economically and seek connection, community and dignified livelihoods. Legal status is the root barrier. Work permits and fees, residency documentation and bank account access are structural impediments, not simply bureaucratic inconveniences. Even when strong legal frameworks are present, without an intentional pluralism focus, social hostility and policy restrictions undermine the inclusion of displaced populations. We see this across countries that we have assessed.

These findings across all of our global pluralism monitor reports highlight the need for holistic approaches to support constructive inclusion of displaced persons, engagement with receiving populations and connection to reconciliation processes for returns in post-conflict cases.

We have extensive further findings that we would be pleased to share with the committee through our written submission and through the question period.

Canada has been a global leader in upholding refugee commitments. The policies and practices of pluralism provide the foundation for Canada's success in receiving and integrating refugees here over time. Canada can draw on these traditions and its expertise to support the holistic actions necessary to address the challenges of displacement globally.

We look forward to your questions. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Ms. Preston McGhie.

I would now like to invite Mr. Youssef Jai to take the floor for five minutes.

[Youssef Jai, Senior Policy Adviser, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre]

Honourable Chair and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to brief you today on the issue of internal displacement.

I represent the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization established in 1998 as part of the Norwegian Refugee Council. For over 25 years, IDMC has provided the international community with data and analyses on internal displacement caused by conflict, violence and disasters. We monitor internal displacement in over 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to highlight the plight of internally displaced persons—IDPs—who are often overlooked, and to inform decision-making with reliable data. We do not collect primary data; rather, we gather, curate and validate information from a variety of sources, including governments.

What do our data tell us about the scale of internal displacement? We released our annual “Global Report on Internal Displacement” just two weeks ago. As of the end of 2025, there were 82.2 million IDPs globally. Roughly two-thirds of forcibly displaced people are IDPs. This figure includes 68.6 million people displaced by conflict and violence across 54 countries and territories, as well as 13.6 million people displaced by disasters across 82 countries and territories. While the total number of IDPs fell slightly compared with 2024, it remained close to its historical peak. The decline was partly linked to reported returns, including in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria, many of which took place under fragile conditions. It was also linked to decreased data availability, partly because of aid cuts.

In addition to tracking the number of IDPs, we also monitor displacements or movements, which count instances of displacement within a given year, not individuals—since one person can be displaced multiple times—to get a sense of the dynamic nature of the phenomenon. Conflict and violence drove a record 32.3 million internal displacements in 2025, a 60% increase compared with 2024, surpassing disaster displacements for the first time on record. Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo together represented two-thirds of the total.

Disasters also continued to drive large-scale movements. Storms, floods, wildfires and other sudden and slow-onset hazards triggered close to 30 million internal displacements in 140 countries and territories, a 35% decrease compared with the exceptionally high level in 2024 but still 13% above the annual average of the past decade. Many of these displacements were pre-emptive evacuations, showing that displacement can be a positive coping mechanism in disaster-prone countries. Many of these displacements were not short-term, although data on the duration of disaster displacement remain a major gap. Although IDMC figures treat conflict and disaster as distinct triggers, the reality is that these factors overlap in many countries, contributing to prolonged and repeated displacement.

Behind the data are millions of lives disrupted, communities torn apart and children deprived of their futures. The hardships faced by IDPs are severe. These include loss of shelter, safety, livelihoods and education. With the growing impacts of climate change and the multiplication of humanitarian crises, and in the absence of durable solutions, the number of IDPs is likely to remain high.

The 1998 guiding principles on internal displacement affirm that national governments bear the primary responsibility of addressing internal displacement. Internal displacement is surely a human rights and humanitarian issue, but it can't be only that. In 2019, at the request of 57 member states, including Canada, the UN Secretary-General established a high-level panel on internal displacement, which issued a seminal report that led to the adoption of his action agenda on internal displacement.

A key takeaway from these initiatives has been the call to shift from short-term humanitarian aid to more developmental approaches. With strong government leadership—where feasible—and appropriate international support, the cycle of protracted displacement can be broken. Today's IDPs can be prevented from becoming tomorrow's refugees, and durable solutions can be achieved. Positive developments have started in several countries, but the challenge of collectively sustaining momentum and accelerating progress to address internal displacement, in a time of declining international solidarity and respect for international law, remains.

We hope Canada, which co-chaired the Group of Friends on Solutions to Internal Displacement in Geneva until recently, will continue to demonstrate steadfast commitment to this important issue.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Mr. Jai.

I would like to thank all of our witnesses for their good introductions.

Now we'll go to the first round of questions and answers.

I would like to invite Mr. Majumdar to take the floor for seven minutes, please.

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for appearing today on this important study.

I'd like to begin my questions with Ann Fitz-Gerald.

Ann, it's good to see you after so long. It's nice to see that you've maintained a strong command of all these files.

I want to dig a little deeper into your testimony with my first questions. How do new transformative technologies play a role in driving both external and internal displacement? How can these technologies help?

[Ann Fitz-Gerald]

Thank you very much for your question. It's an important one.

I come to this debate from a conflict and security lens. That really leads me to analyze how conflict and wider security dynamics lead to that displacement and force people to move and become internally displaced. I look at the way wars are being fought now. Solutions are data-driven, and many are based on digital platforms and new weapons systems, systems that are overcoming large-weapon systems of global leaders with military capability.

I say that because we live in an intangibles world in an intangibles economy, which is data driven. It's the most valuable asset for any organization. With the deployment of resources into military and defence budgets at the moment, there is a huge injection of dual-usage technology support. “Dual-usage” means, of course, use for civilian purposes and use for defence purposes.

Canada can play an additional role in that investment by bringing in rules, protocols and norms, which are very underdeveloped in other parts of the world, for those dual-usage technologies, especially in the form of humanitarian technologies and peace tech—the responsible and safe use. Thus, the data of internally displaced people would not be manipulated or used for exploitative purposes. That's one of many examples.

Canada, as a principal leader in this space, can stand for the rights and the dignity of these groups. In trying to build internal capacity to improve resilience and governance, as well as continuing funding and supporting frontline humanitarian emergencies, it can bring a sense of rules-based norms and principles to how that technology is being used. We've seen how data has been used against people in such countries as Lebanon and Afghanistan: biometric data, border-crossing data. It's because governance lags behind the use of the technology. Canada has a real role to play in that space.

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Thank you for that.

We know that many of the regimes behind the displacement of people are habitual abusers of that data and in fact weaponize it with the support of authoritarians in Beijing and elsewhere. They share best practices in this marketplace. I'm very grateful for your assessment of how technology in this disruptive time can inform a positive outcome for displaced people.

Let me ask you for another perspective on this. We have a lot of downsizing of international aid budgets. We've seen it here in Canada, tragically, and we see it around the world. In this downsizing, what role can Canada play in supporting the rights of internally and externally driven persons or groups, particularly given the nature of conflict dynamics that drive this displacement?

[Ann Fitz-Gerald]

Canada can help in a number of ways.

The first is in capacity building. This is largely inexpensive and can be, if done properly, very effective in its delivery. Canadians, especially Canadians working abroad in humanitarian and development capacities, are trusted. We had a very good experience with our MDP program, the military development program, when we had advisers in countries. We've seen this in development and humanitarian capacities.

This can link into the work going on with the UN right now—something I'm involved with—in trying to push forward this synergized and collective approach to humanitarianism, development and peace. This is breaking the silos, taking a systems-based analysis and making recommendations that address the system-based pressures, not just the siloed pressures. Canada has an important role to play. We have excellent higher education programs in this space as well.

The second is deploying advisers to help make systems more resilient in-country. As I said, Canadians are trusted and knowledgeable in this area. We have a number of advisers in the room today who work in-country on these issues. It's much better to develop internally safe, responsible and effective systems than to allow migration to go outside the borders, if it can stay well managed inside of the borders and these groups are protected with all the status and benefits that they should have. Sometimes these governments need to develop more resilient systems—to absorb shock when it happens—that are made up and informed based on that collective analysis.

I would put in a strong vote not just for sustained funding at the emergency coal face but also for capacity building.

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

I think we only have a few seconds left.

You made reference to economic exclusion and how states need to build resilience and systems around ensuring that they prevent the spillover of migration across borders and build the systems inside these domestic environments to prevent that displacement.

Could you clarify how these dynamics risk entrenching or widening inequality among displaced populations across different phases of displacement?

[Ann Fitz-Gerald]

I'm going to draw a connection between displacement—

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Can you give a quick answer, please? The time is up.

[Ann Fitz-Gerald]

We're seeing countries that are conflict-affected being slowly robbed of their data and their ability to capture wealth in the future. We're seeing a new program in the U.S. that is dubbed “health aid” but is a program meant to gain unfettered access in perpetuity to the data of the citizens outside those borders for economic innovation purposes. That is going to lead to more marginalization and more groups on the move because of huge economic inequalities in the future.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

Now I would like to invite Ms. Dhillon to take the floor for seven minutes, please.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today.

I'll start with Mr. Lawson.

With the service provided by Doctors Without Borders to those who are displaced, often the personnel who work for Doctors Without Borders are constantly under threat. I'll ask a bit about that.

Those who work in this context of violence put their lives at risk. Can you talk to us a bit about that?

[Michael Lawson]

Are you referring to the staff of Doctors Without Borders themselves? It's probably worth emphasizing that the makeup of our staff around the world is almost entirely people who live in and are from the countries in which we operate. They do almost the entirety of the work that we do. They are also frequently affected by the same crises and the same conflicts to which we are responding. Many of our colleagues do find themselves displaced, depending on the situation, and are forced to make those accommodations. However, they continue providing emergency medical and humanitarian care where it's needed.

To emphasize only those staff members and people who are providing that care...it is a much larger context than that. It is the entirety of the people who are affected that we need to keep in mind here.

In all of these situations, we are finding the same thing. We are finding that the capacity to respond to the needs that exist of people specifically who have been displaced.... As I said in my introductory remarks, people find themselves in exceedingly difficult situations with few options for getting out of them. They become almost entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance and aid. In view of the fact that so much of that assistance is now under threat—it has been reduced by funding cuts—the challenge, which was already exceedingly high, is now even more difficult.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

In June 2025, MSF put out an article about fear becoming a defining feature of migration journeys, as many refugees and migrants experience prolonged, anticipatory fear linked to violence, insecurity and shifting border policies. There's vicarious trauma. There's also long-term and generational trauma. Sometimes this continues over many generations.

Can you speak to us about this? Also, what types of mental health supports are provided?

[Michael Lawson]

Absolutely. An often-overlooked aspect of the challenges that are facing people who have been forcibly displaced is the mental health aspect and the psychological trauma that many people have to endure.

Being forced from your home in the first place is in itself often a traumatic experience. As we have seen throughout many of the places around the world where we work, people who are on the move, who have been forcibly displaced, are frequently exposed to significant levels of violence, even as their journeys progress. They find very few options for safety, so it's absolutely fundamental to provide psychological care and mental health services to people who have been displaced in every dimension of their journeys. For those who remain confined in displacement camps or who are moving onwards, it is a fundamental need that is frequently unmet.

For MSF—Doctors Without Borders—it is always a component of the work that we do in virtually every displacement context in which we work. We're aware of the higher levels of trauma that people experience, so we continue to prioritize that. As mentioned in my comments at the beginning, we do frequently see ourselves alone in the provision of this care across a number of different contexts.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Women and girls are at very high risk of being trafficked, because they are displaced, they're in refugee camps and transit areas.

What measures can be taken to better address this issue and to protect them?