AFGH#4: Humanitarian Assistance for the Afghan people

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
With respect to resettlement support and getting people to safety, the reality is that the current streams cannot be applied to many people. Many people are still within Afghanistan. The stream that the government has provided is that they need to be in a third country.In the face of this situation, what specific recommendation do you have for the government so that we can ensure that people who are in Afghanistan would be able to access resettlement supports?

Asma Faizi, President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services
We've been asking for this to ensure that they open up the ability of Afghans from inside Afghanistan to seek resettlement. There was a short window where they had opened it, and then it was unclear as to why, but they shut it out. It's very important, and I can give an example.
Just in the last couple of weeks, I've had a number of Canadian organizations that want to help some women who are trapped inside Afghanistan and are in hiding. They were calling me to ask what were their options. Unfortunately, for the pathways that are open for those kinds of cases, they need to be outside of the country.
Canada needs to enable that once again, to allow those from inside Afghanistan to be able to apply for the resettlement program.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
You said there was a short window. Do you recall when that window was?

Asma Faizi, President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services
I believe it was in October. There was a two-week window when we were informed they were going to allow the vulnerable Afghans to seek resettlement, and then a couple of weeks later, we found out that it was no longer available.

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

Afghanistan Committee on Feb. 14th, 2022
Evidence of meeting #4 for Afghanistan in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session

7:15 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

The time is up. I was very generous.

We will move to the next honourable member.

Madam Kwan, you have six minutes.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all of the witnesses for their presentations. As well, thank you for the ongoing advocacy and work that you do.

I'd like to first ask Ms. Faizi a question.

With respect to resettlement support and getting people to safety, the reality is that the current streams cannot be applied to many people. Many people are still within Afghanistan. The stream that the government has provided is that they need to be in a third country.

In the face of this situation, what specific recommendation do you have for the government so that we can ensure that people who are in Afghanistan would be able to access resettlement supports?

We've been asking for this to ensure that they open up the ability of Afghans from inside Afghanistan to seek resettlement. There was a short window where they had opened it, and then it was unclear as to why, but they shut it out. It's very important, and I can give an example.

Just in the last couple of weeks, I've had a number of Canadian organizations that want to help some women who are trapped inside Afghanistan and are in hiding. They were calling me to ask what were their options. Unfortunately, for the pathways that are open for those kinds of cases, they need to be outside of the country.

Canada needs to enable that once again, to allow those from inside Afghanistan to be able to apply for the resettlement program.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

You said there was a short window. Do you recall when that window was?

Asma Faizi
President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services

I believe it was in October. There was a two-week window when we were informed they were going to allow the vulnerable Afghans to seek resettlement, and then a couple of weeks later, we found out that it was no longer available.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I see. Did you have any information as to how, even in that two-week window, people were able to access that initiative?

Asma Faizi
President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services

My understanding was that the government had partnered with some organizations on the ground that were going to be referral organizations. I believe one was Front Line Defenders, and I believe there was another organization. They were designated as referral agencies that would identify those in need and then enable them to be resettled in Canada.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

One of the issues raised by Mr. Amiri was that the requirement of the UNHCR refugee determination is an impossible thing for people to attain. Have you called on the government to waive this requirement?

Asma Faizi
President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services

Yes. All of our recommendations to the government so far have asked for the waiver of that recognition status. It is a huge barrier. There are other examples. We get calls every day because of our connections, the fact that we've been working in this area for a long time and the fact that we're an Afghan organization.

We get multiple calls from people who want to be able to sponsor somebody through the G5, the groups of five, and you need to be recognized by the UNHCR or the host country. While we understand that the UN is operating in some of these third countries, they have a huge backlog, and they're not processing, so it's a huge barrier for a lot of people.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Would you be able to table with the committee all of the recommendations you've made to the government so that we have a record of that and their responses to you to date?

Asma Faizi
President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services

Yes.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you.

There's another question I'd like to ask.

For many people, the requirement of having to fill out all these forms, even if in a third country, within 14 days, is an almost impossible task for people. People can't access computers. There are language barriers and so on.

Would you support the call for the government to waive all of these application process requirements and to pause them, so to speak? Once people get to safety on Canadian soil, then they can always go back and fill out these forms and go through that process.

Asma Faizi
President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services

Certainly, any administrative barriers that have been put in place need to be alleviated. As I said, we were able to bring in 25,000 Syrians in 100 days.

As far as we know, there are about 7,000 people who have come to Canada so far. There is a dire humanitarian catastrophe. There are people at risk. Even for those who are able to get out of Afghanistan and go to third countries, with the horrific conditions under which they get to the countries and the horrific conditions in those third countries, the fear of being deported and the fear of being persecuted because they're going to be returned to Afghanistan, human dignity requires the world to see what's going on and to alleviate these administrative burdens on people who are at risk.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

One of the issues is about sponsorship. Aside from the private sponsorships, should the Canadian government be opening up family sponsorship for extended families? There are many Afghans who have Canadian family members here, but the sponsorship requirement is only for parents and grandparents or spouses and dependent children. Should the Canadian government open that up to extended family members?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you, Madam Kwan. Your time is up.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Mr. Chair, could I get a quick response?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Yes. Please, go ahead.

Asma Faizi
President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services

Yes, definitely. They did it for the interpreters who came and their families. They expanded the definition of extended family. If it could be extended, it would be great, but we understand that the Canadian government has been expediting some of these family reunification cases. We thank them for doing that, but to expand the criteria would be very helpful.

8:20 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Madam Kwan, we'll go to you for six minutes, please.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank all the witnesses for their service, their incredible work and their ongoing advocacy.

You are absolutely correct. I think the government dropped the ball. I still remember when the former minister of immigration was asked the question about resettlement. The response was to say that they could use the existing immigration measures, which we know was not going to be possible.

With that being said, moving forward on what can be done and what needs to be done, have you proposed to the government waiving the biometrics? It is absolutely paramount to waive the administrative and paperwork requirement. If so, what was their response?

Mr. Thorne.

Oliver Thorne
Executive Director, Veterans Transition Network

I would actually defer to my colleagues, General Fraser and General Milner, as they have had more direct communication with the government on this.

MGen (Ret'd) David Fraser

I can jump in quickly.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

General Fraser, go ahead.

MGen (Ret'd) David Fraser

We've made all those recommendations. We said we would work with the government on options on how to do that. Fundamentally we agreed that nobody should come into this country who shouldn't be here. You waive it at that end and you isolate them and then you do all the necessary biometrics and due diligence so we get the right people here. If they don't meet the requirements, you send them home. You send them back to Afghanistan.

The thing is to take them out of harm's way, do the vetting, bring them here or to a third party. We made all those recommendations, but the risk aversion is it's in the “too hard to do” column.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Would you be able to table with the committee the recommendations you've made to the government, so that we have them on the public record of the committee?

MGen (Ret'd) David Fraser

Yes. We can come up with all the letters and recommendations, because we still talk to IRCC and Global Affairs on a weekly basis, when we make all these recommendations. When the interdepartmental task force was up and running, we gave them the same recommendations.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you.

MGen (Ret'd) Dean Milner

I would just add that it's an opportunity for the government to be aggressive. We've talked biometrics. They can put a big team on the ground over in somewhere like Pakistan, very similar to what we did with Syria. We put in a whole-of-government team. You can actually do a lot of it right there on the ground. We'll continue to pull people out. Pakistan isn't the perfect spot, but there's a place that we continue to move people to.

Yes, we can table recommendations. We continue to push our recommendations through the lower levels of Immigration Canada, because we cannot really get the right people in Immigration to speak to us. We don't how far our recommendations are going up the chain of command, but we're absolutely key to give you anything that we can to assist.

We can recommend plans. We've done this before, so we're prepared to do that.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I was going to say, given your experience, that you have done that before, with the Syrian initiative most recently. Because of that mobilization, we were able to bring people to safety.

If the government supported that effort right now and took the same approach as they did under the Syrian refugee initiative, would you be able to do that work with Afghanistan?

MGen (Ret'd) Dean Milner

I would say, absolutely, yes.

We've had people who did the exact same thing in Syria make recommendations and offer their services. I could call up somebody who led the operations for Syria who would go in there in a heartbeat. There are people out on the ground who will help.

Again, yes, we can assist. We've recommended plans, so, yes, we are 100% on standby to continue to assist.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

With respect to the evacuation—sorry, I shouldn't say evacuation—the bringing of people to safety, some of the collaborators, interpreters and so on may have served in a different frame or a different realm; however, not all of them are being recognized by the government in terms of their resettlement support.

From that perspective, how many people do you think fall into that bracket, and what should the government do about it? Should there be policy changes with respect to that?

MGen (Ret'd) David Fraser

We've recommended to the government to be as inclusive as possible. The criteria that the IRCC and the policy have right now are fairly broad. It gets kind of iffy when you talk about human rights. However, for journalists, women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ, cultural advisers, interpreters and cooks, there are enough conditions there that we can probably get them here. We should be more inclusive than exclusive, but, again, it goes back to the comment earlier that was made that we're too risk-averse.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Do you think the government should, for example, allow for Canadians to sponsor loved ones who are there? They're the extended families. I've had people tell me that their cousin, for example—

Pam Damoff Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Liberal

I have a point of order, Chair.

I'm sorry to interrupt, Ms. Kwan, but there's only a minute and 50 seconds left until the vote.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you very much, Madam Kwan. You almost got your six minutes.

On behalf of the committee members, I would love to thank both generals, General Fraser and General Milner, and Mr. Thorne for appearing on the committee and for their input to the committee. Thank you kindly.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Mr. Chair, before you wrap it up, could I ask the witnesses to send their written answers to that last question about sponsorship and extending it beyond parents, grandparents, spouses, independent children, the collaborators and the interpreters?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you, Madam Kwan.

The meeting is adjourned.

https://openparliament.ca/committees/afghanistan-s/44-1/4/jenny-kwan-1/

Latest posts

CIMM#115: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would say that's generally the case. If the work permit they obtained was originally connected to the public policy, that's correct. I don't know if that's the situation in all cases. In some cases, applicants may have had an LMIA-based work permit to begin with.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
That's right. However, under the special immigration measure, the LMIA is not required. I have a list of applicants in those circumstances. Their work permit renewal application was rejected. They were asked to submit an LMIA, which makes no sense. I want to flag that as a deep concern now emerging for people whose open work permits are being rejected as they wait for their permanent resident status. At this rate, given the immigration levels plan numbers and the processing delays happening, and with the number of applicants in place, you can imagine that it's going to take something like eight years to get through the backlog of people getting their PR status. This means that if they are trying to get their pension, they will not be able to do so for eight years, because they are required to provide proof of permanent residence.
I want to flag this as a major concern. I hope the department will take action to fix the error being applied to applicants whose open work permits are being rejected under this stream. Can I get a confirmation from officials that this will be undertaken?

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, that issue has been raised with the department already, and we're looking into it to see what exactly happened in those situations.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
Okay. Officials are aware of it, and yet it's still happening. I have cases coming to me that are happening. I'm about to prepare a giant pile of this stuff for the minister, so I hope the officials will fix that. The other thing related to the pension, of course, is lengthy delays for people to get their permanent status. Based on the immigration levels plan and the number of applicants in place, is it the officials' anticipation that it will take about eight years to get those applications processed?

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We have looked at that possibility. Certainly, it will take longer than we had previously indicated to the committee. I would note that the first year of the levels plan is the fixed year. The years that follow, in this case, 2026 and 2027, are flexible. There are opportunities to adjust those numbers in the future, and that could affect that timeline. It's hard to say whether eight years will be the timeline, but it will be longer than had been originally predicted because the numbers have gone down.

CIMM#114: Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
Aside from looking at patterns of potential violators—the groups and organizations taking advantage of students with these fraudulent letters of acceptance—will you be including in the analysis what types of institutions are being utilized for these fraudulent letters? In other words, is it private institutions versus public institutions, colleges versus universities and so on? Will that be part of the analysis?

Bronwyn May, Director General, International Students Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
It's not always the case that a letter originates from an institution. We would need to look at various possible sources.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
Maybe I can reframe that.
Obviously, as these are fraudulent letters of acceptance, they wouldn't be issued by the institutions. However, regarding the list of institutions being used for the purpose of these fraudulent letters, I would be interested in obtaining information to determine what percentage are private institutions and public institutions, how many of them are colleges, how many of them are universities and so on. That will tell us very specific information that I think is important when trying to tackle fraudulent activities.

Bronwyn May, Director General, International Students Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I completely agree. That's a very important line of analysis.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
I will make the further request to make sure you share this information with the committee. I'll argue that this information should not be kept secret. It should be public and transparent—shared with all Canadians—so that we're aware of what the landscape is and of how international students are being taken advantage of. With respect to that analysis, will there be information and data on what countries are being targeted?

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

CIMM#113: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
All right. Thank you.
Hence, we have this problem. You have the Canadian government, which created this lifeboat scheme for Hong Kongers who are fleeing persecution in Hong Kong as a result of the national security law. The government, in its wisdom or lack thereof, created this lifeboat scheme that only provides for temporary residence by way of a work permit or a study permit. Then these people have to go to the queue to make an application for permanent residence, and we know that there is a huge backlog and delay in processing.
In the beginning, there was swift action, but as time has passed, it's been lengthened by way of the delay, to the point where the former minister even made an announcement to further extend people's work permits and study permits for another three years. That is to say, a person could be here for six years—as long as six years—under this current scheme without getting permanent residence. This is because the minister anticipated that people would not be able to swiftly get their permanent resident status. That is the reality.
As a result of that, people are not able to provide proof of permanent residence, because the application is in process. To make it even worse, the government—the minister—just made an announcement about the levels plan, cutting levels to the tune of 105,000 permanent resident status applications.
You can imagine how long the wait-list is for Hong Kongers as they continue to wait. Now, these Hong Kongers have zero intention of returning to Hong Kong, because they know that they would be persecuted if they did. People know that. I think the Canadian government knows that.
This is my question, then, to you as the manager of their pension, which, because of this rule, they're unable to access: Would your organization be willing to write to the regulator to ask for consideration for these applicants who are in a prolonged period of waiting for permanent resident status, to ask that their declaration indicating that they do not intend to return to Hong Kong be accepted as proof that they intend to leave Hong Kong permanently so that they can access their pensions? Is that something that your organization would consider doing?

Maryscott Greenwood, Global Head, Government Relations, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company
I think I understand the question.
The basic premise of your question has to do with the period of time it takes for the Government of Canada to determine and provide permanent residency or citizenship. It seems to me that this is a function of the Government of Canada, as opposed to a regulated entity. That's how I would answer that.

Laura Hewitt, Senior Vice-President and Head, Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc.
Yes. I would say that it's not within our authority to change the criteria.
However, our numbers show that once that permanent residency does come through, we're able to process the applications and approve Canadian permanent residents.

AFGH#4: Humanitarian Assistance for the Afghan people

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

https://openparliament.ca/committees/afghanistan-s/44-1/4/jenny-kwan-1/

Latest posts

CIMM#115: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

CIMM#114: Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

CIMM#113: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers

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