Afghanistan committee  Thank you for the question. You know, as I said in my remarks, the government clearly identified vulnerable populations. For the LGBTQI+ community, there are specific vulnerabilities and barriers to adequately identifying those persons. There was a clear expectation set on Augus

Afghanistan committee  This is a specific ask in addition to the 40,000 committed, because at this stage we do not know if they're going to meet that target. So the answer is yes.

Afghanistan committee  Absolutely. Thank you for the question. I'd love to respond to you in French, but then I think my address would be too long, so I'll speak in English. There are two specific ways we work with the government. First, there's a rainbow refugee assistance partnership, which the gov

Afghanistan committee  I'll go even a step further. From 1996 to 2001 when the Taliban had control, we saw already that under sharia law LGBTQ+ persons often faced severe attacks by the Taliban. During the period of the conflict, there was an easing of those direct persecution acts and there was a smal

Afghanistan committee  No. The individuals I am referring to are still stuck in neighbouring countries. They've managed to make it outside of Afghanistan, but we're imploring the government to allow us to refer them for resettlement.

Afghanistan committee  It's not clear to us where the commitment to the vulnerable population stream begins and ends. That's what we've been asking for clarity on, and when the cap of that population ends. In particular, as a population mentioned specifically, I believe that there should be a commitm

Afghanistan committee  Mr. Chair and honourable committee members, thank you for the invitation to speak. My name is Kimahli Powell, and I am the executive director of Rainbow Railroad, an international organization based in Canada and the United States that supports LGBTQI+ people facing persecution b

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. Section 3, “Understanding the challenges faced by individuals”, needs to be given space to be reviewed in depth. I think part of the problem with short training is that it doesn't give enough time for members to really dive into that section of the guidelines.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, but I'm going to suggest that my colleague Sharalyn go first, because they're live before many more cases and have seen some shifts recently. I'll ask Sharalyn to go first, then, and I can comment afterwards.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good morning. Sorry; I'm currently in Geneva, so my time's a little skewed. I'm actually here in Geneva as a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Members of the community all across the world gather here to deal with issues related to the LGBTQI community, a

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It all depends on the different countries. If you're talking about Canada specifically, one area of concern for individuals here, particularly for those who have not filed a case, is the length of time. I'm sure you've heard about the issues surrounding legacy claims, as far as

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think if the LGBTQ2I community is labelled as a vulnerable population, as it is stated, then we need a robust policy in order to address that measure. I think it's outside our mandate to talk about who we are putting aside. I think the point here is that we need a robust strate

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That would be one way, yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. Any program has to be paired with a proper resettlement program and the capacity to deal with claims in the country. I think those two go hand in hand.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If I understand you correctly, you're asking about the challenges faced in directly engaging with individuals we're seeking to help. It's twofold. We receive requests from individuals all over the world. I mentioned 700 a few times. Those are the ones who are known to us. If we'r