Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Madam Kwan. As my colleague mentioned, by mandate and international law, refugees have to cross an international border as refugees to benefit from UNHCR's work and solutions. One part of what we are doing right now is really robustly increasing our resettlement capac

Afghanistan committee  The situation is extremely dire inside Afghanistan, as colleagues have said. However, there are two components here. One is the humanitarian crisis which, if not mitigated, will basically destroy any coping mechanisms and coping systems that Afghans have. This will lead to furthe

Afghanistan committee  There is the contingency plan.

Afghanistan committee  I will defer to my colleague Rema, who can answer this one with more detail. Rema, over to you.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, honourable member. As our colleague from UNAMA also said, the approach has been very much as a point of advocacy first with the de facto authorities to ensure, first, that UN female staff and colleagues are able to come to work and have unhindered access to communitie

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much. In anticipation of the situation deteriorating, in September 2020 we launched a contingency planning process looking at, as you rightly said, that potential displacement—

Afghanistan committee  You mean before August 2020. I understand. I thought it was 2021. In August 2020, not—

Afghanistan committee  The contingency planning we did in December 2020 was presented to governments, including the Government of Canada.

Afghanistan committee  In December 2020, in preparation for potential displacement from Afghanistan, there was a contingency plan drawn up by UNHCR and shared in March or April with all member states, including the Government of Canada. Therefore, support from the Government of Canada for preparation a

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Chair and honourable members, for giving us the opportunity to talk to you. Since the events of last August, UNHCR and other organizations working on the ground have been warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan and the risks of further displacement. The