Question Period Note: Afghanistan

Canada’s immigration response to the crisis in Afghanistan.

• Canada continues to be deeply concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in Afghanistan and the risks it poses for many vulnerable Afghans and will continue to do what it can to support those at-risk.
• To date, IRCC has approved applications for more than 9,600 persons under our Special Immigration Measures to resettle Afghan nationals who assisted the Government of Canada along with their family members. Close to 5,500 Afghans are already beginning their new lives in Canada and have been resettled to communities.
• Approximately 930 Afghan refugees arrived since the beginning of December alone. We will continue to move Afghan refugees as quickly as conditions allow.
• The government proposes to provide $1.3 billion over 6 years, starting in 2021-22, and $66.6 million in future years, to continue to facilitate the safe passage and resettlement of vulnerable Afghans to Canada.
If pressed:
• In addition, as of December 2021, 1,755 individuals have already arrived through Canada’s humanitarian program, which targets the resettlement of particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals, including women leaders, human rights defenders, LGBTI individuals, persecuted religious and ethnic minorities, and journalists.

Special Immigration Measures

• Special Immigration Measures (SIMs) were implemented in July 2021 for locally engaged staff at the Canadian Embassy to Afghanistan and for individuals who had a significant and/or enduring relationship to the Government of Canada. This included their family members.

• Both Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defense are responsible for identifying individuals who meet the criteria to have a significant and/or enduring relationship to the Government of Canada. Individuals cannot apply directly to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for resettlement to Canada under these measures.

• Afghans resettled via SIMs are entitled to receive immediate and essential services, income support, and Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) coverage through Canada’s resettlement programs.

• The Department has received applications for 14,695 persons to date. Of these, 9,625 persons have been approved, and 3,730 persons have arrived in Canada. (As of Dec. 8)

Safe Houses

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Exit Documents/ Red Tape

• Afghans face a number of challenges departing Afghanistan. To enter Pakistan by air or through the Torkum border, both a valid passport and an e-visa are needed. For air travel to third countries, a passport may be needed. The situation is very dynamic and is not consistent from day to day, making it extremely challenging for Afghans to plan and prepare their travel.

• Canada is able to assist applicants who are in process once they arrive in a third country, financially through travel loans as well as with visas and Single Journey forms to facilitate their onward travel. With the closure of the air bridge ended in August 2021, Canada has no ongoing evacuation effort.

Extended family members of previously resettled Interpreters

• IRCC is introducing a pathway to permanent residence for extended family members of Afghans who worked for or assisted the Government of Canada or the Canadian Armed Forces and who immigrated to Canada under previous public policies implemented in 2009 and 2012.

• Those previous policies were put in place for Afghans working for Canada and their immediate families, in recognition of the risk they faced by supporting Canada’s mission in Kandahar.

• While some of their extended family members may have come to Canada through existing programs over the years, others have not and may now be in a precarious position as a result of their relationship to the interpreters.

• The program opened on December 9.

Humanitarian Program

• On August 13, 2021, the Minister of IRCC announced a humanitarian program aimed at resettling 20,000 vulnerable Afghan nationals, for implementation by the end of 2023. The government subsequently committed to increasing this target to 40,000 Afghans (including SIMs).

• This program includes both government-assisted refugees (GAR) and privately sponsored refugees (PSR) spaces.

• IRCC relies on referral partners to identify individuals for GAR spaces. Besides traditional referral partners such as the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), IRCC has signed agreements with the United States (U.S.), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Front Line Defenders and ProtectDefenders.eu for the resettlement of Afghan nationals. Front Line Defenders and ProtectDefenders.eu will refer Afghan human rights defenders in need of protection.

• Referrals are already being received from the U.S., NATO and Front Line Defenders.

• GARs and PSRs are entitled to receive immediate and essential services, income support, and Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) coverage through Canada’s resettlement programs. Private sponsors play an important role in assisting sponsored refugees in settling into their life in Canada and financially supporting them.
• To date, 1,755 persons have arrived in Canada.
Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program
• Since the start of the PSR Program in the late 1970s, private sponsors have welcomed approximately 350,000 refugees to Canada.

• The success of the program is a direct result of the extraordinary partnerships and cooperation among Canadian organizations, businesses, governments, communities and individuals.

• Those who sponsor refugees not only transform the lives of the refugees they sponsor, but they also enrich themselves and their communities in the process.

• Together with provincial and territorial partners, the Government of Canada invests in services that help newcomers settle into their new life in Canada.
Settlement Agreement Holders (SAH)
• As of December 8, 2021, there are 130 Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs).

• SAHs are local, regional and national incorporated organizations that have signed agreements with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for the purposes of submitting sponsorship cases. Most current SAHs are faith-based organizations, ethno-cultural groups or other humanitarian organizations. SAHs assume overall responsibility for the management of sponsorships under their agreement and generally submit numerous sponsorships each year.

• IRCC is working with the SAH Council to determine the way forward on processing existing and new private sponsorship applications for up to 7,000 Afghan refugees.

• Three thousand spaces will be made available to SAHs to enable them to sponsor new Afghan cases that align with the priority areas identified for the Afghan humanitarian commitment.

• Each SAH has been allocated 10 spaces to enable sponsors to begin the application process this year. The remaining spaces will be made available in 2022.

• IRCC has also begun priority processing of up to 4,000 existing Afghan private sponsorship applications that are in the inventory. Applications are being processed on a first in, first out basis.

International collaboration

• Canada is deploying its full diplomatic weight through a variety of channels to advance its key priorities, including ensuring the Taliban respect their commitment to allow safe passage. This includes multiple lines of effort within the G7, Five Country Forums and UN, as well as bilateral discussions with influential and impacted capitals.

• Global Affairs Canada is in regular contact with Canadian humanitarian organizations, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross to identify the most critical needs. Canada will support the efforts of humanitarian organizations on the ground as the situation continues to evolve.

Processing of Applications for family members of Canadian Citizens

• IRCC is prioritizing family sponsorship applications of Canadians, permanent residents and protected persons in Canada who are in the process of sponsoring their immediate family members who are overseas.

Fraud

• The Government of Canada takes fraud very seriously and IRCC strives to ensure that the integrity of Canada’s immigration program is upheld. Should the public be aware of immigration fraud, there are channels available to share this information, including the CBSA’s Border Watch Toll-Free Line (1-888-502-9060), IRCC’s Citizenship Fraud Tips mailbox (IRCC.CitizenshipFraudTips-Fraudedecitoyennete.IRCC@cic.gc.ca), and their nearest Canadian visa office if they are outside Canada. Confidentiality of the source is of utmost importance to IRCC.

• Substantiated evidence of fraudulent practices by IRCC clients, or otherwise, are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and when applicable as a group to help detect fraud trends and risk mitigate as necessary.

• With respect to validating a relationship with the Government of Canada, both Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence are referring individuals to IRCC following a review of their records. Each application is assessed individually by highly trained individuals.

• The Government is taking appropriate steps to ensure admissibility requirements and security considerations are part of our efforts to help those in need.

• As in all refugee cases, Canada’s commitment to resettling Afghan nationals at-risk will be accomplished while continuing to ensure the health, safety and security of Canadians is protected.

• The safety and security of Canada and Canadians is consistently a key consideration. IRCC, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and other agencies work together to ensure biographical and application information is screened for potential security concerns.

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Afghan Sikhs/religious minorities

• Within Afghanistan, there are minority Sikh and Hindu communities. Canada is aware of these communities and continues to support religious freedoms both at home and abroad, including in Afghanistan.

• The targeting and killing of men, women, and children based on their religious or ethnic identity represents a grave violation of human rights and an affront to human dignity, which Canada categorically condemns.

• Through the PSR Program, and building upon a pre-existing commitment to resettle 45 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus in India, Canada will resettle a further 300 persons as part of the humanitarian commitment for Afghanistan announced on August 13, 2021.

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• In addition, Canada will expedite the resettlement of other at-risk Afghan religious and ethnic minorities referred by designated referral partners and private sponsors.

Impact on other lines of business

• The world is facing a refugee crisis and Canada will continue to do its part, as a global leader in refugee resettlement. While other countries close their doors, we keep ours open – in 2020, we welcomed roughly a third of all refugees resettled around the world.

• Through our refugee programs, Canada was able to safely resettle more than 12,000 refugees between March 2020 and August 2021.

• The situation in Afghanistan is an urgent, large-scale resettlement effort that will see Afghans resettled through a variety of existing programs. For the next few months, IRCC will focus certain resources on processing Afghan applications across a wide range of immigration programs, but there has been no pause in processing for our other immigration programs.

• IRCC has a global network of migration offices, which continue to process resettlement applications for other populations. Going forward, refugee resettlement will continue to increase as local COVID-19 situations improve and allow for more processing, and travel from more destinations becomes possible.

• However, conditions to facilitate departures will vary by country and could be negatively impacted by subsequent COVID-19 waves. We are already facilitating plans to replace expired documents and schedule travel to Canada where possible.

• The Department is working with the service providers it funds to provide immediate and essential services to government-assisted refugees upon arrival in Canada to make sure they have the capacity to serve both Afghan and non-Afghan refugees.

Conditions at Quarantine Hotels/ Permanent Housing

• The emergency response in August and September resulted in all Afghan refugees arriving via Toronto Pearson Airport with the mandatory 14 day quarantine in the GTA at designated “quarantine hotels”. More recently, Afghan refugees are beginning to quarantine in their final destination community. Covid tests are first administered before departure to Canada, and then again on Day 1 and Day 8 of their quarantine stay.

• During the quarantine period, resettlement agencies see all refugees multiple times and offer a wide variety of services. This begins with tending to basic needs including food, clothing, toiletries and baby supplies. It includes programming like orientation sessions and childcare, as well as assistance obtaining documents, filling out forms, applying for government programs like the Canada Child Benefit and more. Families are all provided with tablets to get access to services virtually, while respecting quarantine requirements. IRCC is in constant contact with agencies to ensure they’re meeting refugees’ needs.

• All hotels have clinics staffed by nurses to attend to urgent medical needs, with connections to the health care system for issues that require more specialized care. Partnership with local public health agencies ensures refugees get vaccinated through pop up clinics in quarantine hotels, and agencies in refugees’ final destinations help them get their second dose once sufficient time has passed.

Settlement

• Individuals arriving under the special immigration program for Afghans who contributed to the Government of Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan have arrived under the Government-Assisted Refugees Program and will be fully supported by the Government of Canada for 1 year, including up to 12 months of income support.

• Individuals who will be arriving under the expanded measures will be a mix of government-supported and privately sponsored refugees (including blended visa office-referred program refugees “BVORs”), along with individuals who come to Canada through family reunification programs.

• The Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) has two main components: income support and assistance for a range of immediate essential services. Immediate and essential services are delivered by RAP Service Provider Organizations, generally within the first 4-6 weeks of a newcomer’s arrival in Canada. Activities include:
o meeting newcomers at the airport or final destination in Canada
o providing temporary accommodation
o providing basic orientation to Canada, life skills training and financial orientation
o assisting in finding permanent accommodation
o referring to other settlement programs

• COVID-19 has made it much more challenging for service providers to offer these supports. We have worked to ensure that these services can be delivered safely.

• Afghan government-assisted refugees are settling in 34 communities across Canada outside of Quebec in which the Department funds organizations to provide them with immediate and essential services upon arrival.

• There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to determining a final destination. Rather, IRCC works closely with refugees to help them end up in a place where they’ll thrive. This begins with making every effort to help them settle in communities where they have family or other ties, and continues with considerations around the availability of specialized services (e.g. health services) needed by newcomers. IRCC makes every effort to destine refugees to places with settlement supports already in place, strong cultural ties as well as access to safe and affordable housing, schools, and language training.

• Additionally, Afghan GARs qualify for are the same settlement services available to all newcomers. These supports and services help them integrate and build a successful life in Canada as quickly as possible and include:
o need and assets assessments and orientation to help newcomers make informed decisions;
o language assessment and language training;
o employment services to prepare for the workplace and link to employers;
o community connections linking immigrants to communities and institutions; and
o support services to facilitate participation in settlement programming (i.e.: child care, transportation, translation).

• Federally-funded settlement services are often complemented by provincial and territorial programs and the important contributions of volunteers and the private sector.

• After one year, if a refugee is not yet self-sufficient, they will transition to provincial or territorial social assistance. Because learning a new language, finding employment and fully integrating into a new community takes time, settlement services are available as long as a newcomer is a permanent resident and until they become a Canadian citizen.

Refugee Status Determination

• The Refugee Status Determination requirement for Groups of Five and Community Sponsors was put in place in 2012 to increase application approval rates and processing times.
• Sponsorship Agreement Holders are not subject to this requirement. They often support Groups of Five and Community Sponsors in times where a Refugee Status Determination document cannot be obtained.
• Applications continue to be processed on an urgent basis by adding resources, mobilizing our global network to process and issue visas.
• In the absence of any explicit intake management mechanism in the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program, the RSD requirement helps manage intake and increase approval rates, leading to shorter processing times.

LGBTQ

• Canada has a proud history of providing protection to the world’s most vulnerable groups, and as a member of the Equal Rights Coalition, Canada is working in international forums to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

• The government also encourages refugee sponsorship organizations, as well as LGBTQ+ organizations across the country, to privately sponsor LGBTQ+ refugees.

• To be resettled in Canada under the Humanitarian program for Afghan nationals, individuals must be referred to Canada by designated referral partners or privately sponsored.

• Rainbow Refugee and Partners in the Rainbow Coalition for Refuge and others partners can work with sponsorship agreement holders (SAHs) to identify LGBTQ+ Afghans in need of protection.

The humanitarian stream will include a combination of government-supported and privately sponsored refugees, including LGBTQ+ Afghan nationals.

IRCC does not systematically track information or report on refugees’ sexual orientation or gender identity in order to respect the privacy of refugees.

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