Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by informing you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Vancouver East
The Yazidis are a proud and ancient people. What has happened to them and what is still happening to them is absolutely horrendous. They are being tortured and killed. They are being taken into slavery and sexual slavery. The women are being separated from the men. Children are being taken from their families, often so that they can be trained for combat. It is a genocide and we are not the only ones saying so. The United Nations also agrees.
We need to take action. It is urgent and important. It calls upon our humanity. These people need help. That is why we are going to support the motion before us today. It is a very important motion and I thank my colleague for moving it.
The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development heard some very troubling testimony about the situation of the Yazidis. I know that the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration also heard some moving accounts. What is happening here today is partly the result of the extraordinary work that the committee has done in this regard, and I hope that more will be done. Following the study in committee, the NDP issued a series of practical recommendations. In a case like this, we need to be practical to determine what measures can be taken.
We therefore made very practical recommendations with regard to relocation, for example. We think that the Government of Canada, through the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, should use the discretionary power granted under section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and take immediate action to bring Yazidis who are fleeing the genocide to Canada. To that end, credible organizations on the ground would identify and select the genocide victims who would be relocated to Canada. These measures should build on the policies and initiatives already in place.
As far as humanitarian assistance is concerned, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Minister of Foreign Affairs should ensure that humanitarian assistance levels are increased and they should work more closely with credible groups on the ground to ensure that the humanitarian assistance gets to those who need it.
The processing delays are a major issue. The additional oversight provided by Canada, in other words, the additional interviews conducted by Canadian officers, cause inexcusable and unacceptable delays in the current context. We urge the government to ease up on this additional oversight and bring to Canada the Yazidis selected for resettlement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. If the government is not on board with this and decides that additional oversight is necessary, although it is not clear why, then there are some mechanisms that can be used for this purpose. For example, it could use a process similar to the one used for family reunification, whereby additional oversight may be used in cases that raise red flags. Otherwise, the government could proceed the way it does for family reunification.
Refugees selected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees could obtain a temporary visa to enter Canada and then get permanent resident status once the next stage of the screening process is done here. We know that generally speaking this group of people does not pose any significant threat.
We must use our imagination to find ways to accelerate the process given the terrible situation in which these people find themselves.
We must give them asylum, but we must also give them justice. That is important. These people have a right to justice, but in addition to that right and the importance it could have for them, it would serve to prevent further genocide. Failing to deal with crimes of genocide could result in them being repeated again and again. We must prevent them on the ground, and we must prevent them by ensuring that justice is served when a case such as this arises.
Justice does not just happen. People do not just find themselves before the International Criminal Court or other tribunals where decisions are rendered. It requires evidence and detailed analyses on the ground.
I am now appealing to the current government. Largely due to our efforts, in 2015 the Conservative government agreed to allocate a little bit of money, or just over $1 million, for what is known as transitional justice in Iraq and Syria. I believe we should be doing much more than that, but at least it was a first step. That was in May 2015, and we have not heard much since then. I would like to know if the program still exists. I would also like to strongly encourage the government to invest in the program and, naturally, to work with our partners so that this matter is presented to the International Criminal Court and all other similar bodies.
Finally, we must fight those who commit crimes against humanity. The Yazidis have suffered a tragedy in a context where the abuse of human rights is generalized, and not just by ISIS. We must never stop pointing out that the Bashar al-Assad regime is blatantly attacking its own citizens and committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Unfortunately, we are seeing too many such crimes.
Everyone knows we sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, and apparently the Saudi coalition is committing crimes against humanity in Yemen too.
I do not have enough time left to delve into all of these issues, but I do know for sure that we must act, and that includes providing humanitarian aid. We have to stop the flow of arms to those regions. We have to cut financial lifelines to the whole region, with our first priority being to impede those who are perpetrating genocide against the Yazidi people.
We also need to keep in mind the need to rebuild not only cities and roads, but communities, and hopefully soon. That will be key to ensuring lasting peace.
I would like to close with a quote from the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, whom I believe was absolutely right when he said that over the longer term, the biggest threat to terrorists is not the power of missiles; it is the politics of inclusion.