Afghanistan committee  I agree with my two colleagues, absolutely. It would be very impactful if instituted immediately. The immigration minister is certainly empowered by legislation—I believe it's section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act—to make exemptions and essentially fast-track people at high risk based on his judgment.

Afghanistan committee  The short answer is, absolutely. One of the members mentioned that a 10-year-old girl who was eligible to come under one of these programs died because her application was delayed. Last week, we heard of an unnamed brother of a Canadian embassy worker who was killed, presumably by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and whose application was delayed because of paperwork.

Afghanistan committee  I wasn't clear on what the question was, but I believe you're asking about measures to accelerate the exit of women and girls. The quickest and most impactful thing would be to waive documentation requirements. That's the number one reason we're hearing about delays. Refugee status determination cards, passports, tazkiras, which are the official ID cards in Afghanistan, biometrics and medical exams, all those things should be waived.

Afghanistan committee  As I mentioned, we've heard concerning reports directly from smaller humanitarian charities working on the ground that they're receiving resistance from banks here domestically and having problems in Afghanistan with getting aid and goods there because of this law. We think an MOU would be an acceptable temporary measure, although we need to make sure that some explicit guidance is publicly provided as well, so that banks, for example, can be reassured that it wouldn't count as criminal activity and smaller charity groups that have been operating for a long time would not be excluded from such measures.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you to the honourable member for the question. As you said, women and girls are at especially heightened risk as a result of the Taliban takeover, and the households without male guardians are even more so. As we've seen, the Taliban have imposed strict measures in certain provinces and areas.

Afghanistan committee  I think the big issue here is preventing the crisis in Afghanistan from getting worse, to the point where there is a need for managing the increased number of Afghans who will inevitably exit if the crisis gets worse. It's the things that we're calling for, such as removing barriers for humanitarian aid groups to get funding and goods and services to the people of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the honourable members of the Special Committee on Afghanistan. The Afghan Youth Engagement and Development Initiative, known as AYEDI, is a not-for-profit organization that builds civic engagement and social development among Afghan Canadian youth.