Citizenship and Immigration committee  These would be refugees who are registered with UNHCR. Don't forget, for example, that we don't register or deal with Palestinian refugees. They are dealt with by another UN agency, and there are a couple of million of them as well. The number we have on our books today is just over nine million.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absent other factors, based on what you've just said in this illustration, I would say, no, there wouldn't be grounds. But again, it would be a case-by-case determination.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can only say that in the few cases that have come to Canada and have been dealt with by the IRB, we don't have any issues with the decisions taken by the IRB.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, I spelled out in my presentation the wide range of nationalities that were affected by safe third. You have Colombia in first place, Zimbabwe in second place, Sri Lanka in third place. You have a Latin American country, an Asian country, and an African country, so the affected nationalities are quite varied.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, I don't want to make a general statement on a general question, but if we're talking about a country where the rule of law prevails, where a democratic system prevails, and the law happens to be that there are compulsory military duties for certain age categories, that, in and of itself, would not constitute grounds for refugee status.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's an excellent question, and it's a question I think that keeps the high commissioner awake many nights in Geneva. We have been very careful to say, first and foremost, that our normal protection work is refugees. That's what we have a mandate for, and they will not be short-changed at the expense of internally displaced people.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think the approach, as I've mentioned in my statement, is to try to get the entire UN system working together. Various UN agencies will form clusters of responsibility and leadership so that we spread the work around and the responsibilities for sectors are clearly defined. As I said, in our case we are given the role for account management, shelter, etc., but certainly it is seen to be something that the entire UN system and many other partners will have to play a role in.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Canada is at the forefront of coming up with innovative and excellent ideas of dealing with displacement in general. Last year Canada provided UNHCR with about $31 million U.S. Canada is an important donor to UNHCR, but I think moral support, political, diplomatic, and financial support from Canada and like-minded countries will be very important for us.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't think one can make this type of comparison. The one in North America is pretty unique; its criteria are unique. For example, the exceptions that allow people to lodge claims in Canada and the U.S. are based on, say, family connections, and those family connections are spelled out.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In fact, when this issue came up last year, we sent a note to the committee stating our position on the Vietnamese in the Philippines, but since there are a number of new members here, I'll very quickly summarize what our position is on this group. These are people who, as you correctly said, were considered under the comprehensive plan of action to determine whether they were refugees or not.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Article 6 of the agreement specifies that the two parties, the U.S. and Canada, can, if they wish, go beyond the exceptions that allow people to enter the country, and in the public interest, allow others. For example, right now if you qualify as part of the normal criteria, you have a relative in Canada, a mother, father, brother, sister, etc., and you are allowed to lodge your claim in Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We've talked to just about every country in the world about its refugee system. No country is immune to our comments. Certainly, our office in Washington is in regular dialogue with the U.S. government. I'm sure that just as we talk to CIC and CBSA regularly here, they speak to the Department of Homeland Security and State Department.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  What I would say is rather special about the safe third country agreement--and let's not forget that it's a bilateral agreement--is that the U.S. and Canada entered into this agreement and they invited us, the UNHCR, to monitor the agreement. We would have monitored this agreement in any event because it's part of our supervisory and mandate work, so the fact that the two governments decided to actually invite us was, for us, an additional facility, and they extended a welcome mat to us, which we obviously were pleased to have.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for the question. In fact, as I mentioned in my presentation, UNHCR's role is enshrined in Canadian law and legislation. The 1951 Convention itself also gives the UNHCR supervisory duties and responsibilities over how states implement their international obligations.