Question Period Note: Afghanistan

Canada’s immigration response to the crisis in Afghanistan.

PROPOSED RESPONSE:
• The Government of Canada remains firm in its commitment to welcome at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans and is working to bring them to safety in Canada as quickly as possible.
• More than 16,000 Afghans can now call Canada home.
• We have been processing applications as efficiently as possible, and will continue to be as flexible and facilitative as we can in terms of the requirements regarding documentation, without compromising security and while respecting exit control requirements of the host country.
• Our commitment has not waivered.
If pressed:
• There are several distinct and specialized pathways that we have implemented for Afghan refugees. Our commitment includes:
o 18,000 individuals and their families who had a significant and/or enduring relationship with Canada through their work with the departments of National Defence or Global Affairs. More than 6,985 have arrived in Canada under this program.
o 5,000 extended family members of interpreters who are already living in Canada through the 2009 and 2012 programs. Over 4,350 applications (in persons) have been screened for completeness and 40 people have arrived in Canada under this program.
o A separate humanitarian stream, to welcome additional Afghan refugees based on their particular vulnerabilities—including women, LGBTQ2 people, human rights defenders, journalists and members of religious and ethnic minorities. 8,730 have arrived in Canada under this program.
o 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.

Background:
Special Immigration Measures
• Special Immigration Measures (SIMs) were launched in July 2021 for locally-engaged staff at the Canadian Embassy in Afghanistan, and for Afghans, and their families, who had a significant and/or enduring relationship with the Government of Canada.
• IRCC has received over 14,935 applications for Afghan nationals who assisted the Government of Canada (e.g., locally engaged staff, interpreters), along with their family members. Of these, 10,670 have been approved, and 6,985 have arrived in Canada.
• Individuals who apply to the Program are referred to IRCC by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) or Department of National Defence (DND). GAC and DND identify whether individuals that contacted the Government of Canada, via email or web form, have a significant and/or enduring relationship with the Government of Canada. When a significant and/or enduring relationship is found, they can be referred onward to IRCC. IRCC sends invitations to apply after receiving the referral from DND and GAC. Only the applicants that have been invited to apply have active applications. To ensure equitable treatment, IRCC processes complete applications on a ‘first in, first out’ basis.
• Afghan nationals under SIMs arrive as Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs). They receive immediate and essential services, income support, and Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) coverage through Canada’s Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP).
Humanitarian Program
• On August 13, 2021, IRCC announced a Humanitarian Program to resettle vulnerable and at-risk groups, including women, LGBTQI people, human rights defenders, journalists and members of religious and ethnic minorities.
• 8,730 Afghan refugees have arrived in Canada through the humanitarian program.
• To implement the Humanitarian Program, we are taking a multi-pronged approach:
o We are working with a diverse set of referral partners to identify those Afghans most at-risk. This includes long-standing partners, such as the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and new partners such as the U.S. Government, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), ProtectDefenders.eu, and Front Line Defenders (FLD).
o We are also leveraging our private sponsorship program, including working with Canada’s network of sponsorship agreement holders to create dedicated spaces for Afghans on top of existing plans.
o To come to Canada under Canada’s refugee resettlement program, an individual needs to be referred to IRCC by a designated referral organization, or a private sponsorship group.
• While Quebec is an active supporter of Canada’s humanitarian traditions, under the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec has the sole responsibility for the selection of immigrants and the delivery of settlement and resettlement services in the province. As of June 1, 2022, they have received approximately 520 Afghan nationals, of which 150 are Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) and 370 are Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSRs).
• In light of the current situation in Afghanistan, and as an exceptional measure, we will waive the requirement for a Refugee Status Determination for some private sponsorship applications, broadening sponsor access to the program.
Extended family members of previously resettled Interpreters
• On December 9, 2021, IRCC opened 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.
• Approximately 300 Afghan interpreters along with their immediate family members, for a total of nearly 800 individuals came to Canada under these two public policies.
• Stakeholders and advocacy groups raised concerns that those who have been unable to flee Afghanistan may be targeted by the Taliban, while others who have fled may be at risk of being forced to return.
• The vast majority still reside in Afghanistan. It is likely that they face an increased risk due to their relationship to the former interpreters.
• Extended family members can apply directly, or with the help of an in-Canada family member. Clients will be able to access federally funded settlement services available to all permanent residents in Canada.
• As of June 1, 2022, over 4,350 Afghans (persons) have passed the completeness check and are being processed. Over 1,440 applications have now passed eligibility. 42 applications have been approved to date. 40 people have arrived to date in Canada under this public policy.
Processing of Applications for family members of Canadian Citizens
• IRCC is also 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 Afghan nationals.
• Afghan Nationals who are not eligible for any of these programs may wish to explore other immigration programs they may be eligible for at the Government of Canada webpage.
Settlement
• To determine a final destination, 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 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
o support services to facilitate participation in settlement programming (i.e.: child care, transportation, translation)
International collaboration
Agreement with the United States to resettle Afghan refugees
• By working with our allied partners in August 2021, particularly the United States, Canada leveraged additional evacuation capacity, as other participating nations were, in turn, carrying Canadian citizens and Afghan nationals destined for Canada on their flights.
• The Government of Canada announced an agreement with the United States to resettle up to 5,000 Afghan refugees who would be referred through Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program.
• Thanks to their incredible efforts, the U.S. forces were able to help evacuate thousands of Afghans. Canada is very pleased to cooperate with them to resettle some of these refugees to Canada.
• We are on track to see all 5,000 US referrals arrive in Canada before the end of the summer. As of June 1, 2022, we have received over 4,595 applications. A total of 3,141 have been approved and 2,227 have arrived in Canada.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) locally engaged staff
• Canada has a long-standing and strong relationship with NATO, which is a major contributor to international peace and security. As part of its resettlement efforts, the Government of Canada resettled more than 465 NATO-identified locally engaged staff, including their family members.
• The locally engaged staff referred by NATO came to Canada from a third country where they were temporarily located after leaving Afghanistan.
• NATO-identified locally engaged staff had to meet all eligibility and admissibility requirements before they were accepted for resettlement to Canada.
Impact of Ukraine emergency
• We are using our network of migration offices to process applications, and have streamlined the application process for applicants from Afghanistan to process these cases as quickly as we can. This has not changed as a result of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. We continue to ensure we have the necessary resources to process Afghan files and support their arrival in Canada.
• The reality is that this is a multi-year commitment and every step of the way, there are obstacles facing us in Afghanistan that were not present in other large-scale resettlement efforts. The bottleneck is not the processing capacity of the Government of Canada – it’s situational and environmental factors on the ground in Afghanistan.
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.
• [REDACTED]
• In addition, Canada will expedite the resettlement of other at-risk Afghan religious and ethnic minorities referred by designated referral partners and private sponsors.

ADDITIONAL LINES
Screening:
• The Government of Canada’s priority remains getting people safely out of Afghanistan; however, Canada has no military or diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, which presents challenges in how we collect and verify applicants’ information in the absence of in-country biometric screening capacity.
• The processing and vetting of refugee applications, including security checks, is something we must to do to maintain the integrity of the program and, most importantly, to protect the safety of Canadians.
• Until such time that in-country processing is feasible, we have an innovative and robust solution in place, using a multi-stage approach to security screening in Afghanistan, which ensures that the necessary initial client security screening can be completed prior to departure.
Refugee Status Determination
• We are also working with like-minded countries in light of the current situation in Afghanistan, and as an exceptional measure, we will waive the requirement for a Refugee Status Determination for some private sponsorship applications, broadening sponsor access to the program. This is one of the ways we’re continuing to work with the thousands of Canadians across the country who want to help any way they can.
EMPP
• In addition to all these special pathways, we’re going to work with partners to utilize the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, an innovative program designed to help skilled refugees resettle in Canada, to welcome even more Afghan refugees.
Admissibility
• As with all applications, Afghan refugees need to meet eligibility and admissibility requirements before they are accepted for resettlement to Canada. The lack of a physical presence in Afghanistan has presented challenges in how we collect and verify the information of applicants still in the country. To aid the screening process, IRCC has introduced an enhanced process to collect additional biographic information from clients while they are still in Afghanistan.
• Clients with no admissibility concerns after enhanced biographic screening may be facilitated onwards to a 3rd country where biometric screening and completion of an inadmissibility decision will be made before onward travel to Canada.