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.
As part of the humanitarian program for Afghan nationals, approximately 5,000 (4,990) have arrived in Canada, as of April 7, 2022.
To implement the Humanitarian Program, we are taking a multi-pronged approach:
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).
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.
Supplementary messages
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.
Canada’s refugee resettlement program is legally and operationally designed to address the needs of refugees referred from outside of their country of origin and with no durable solution, consistent with the 1951 Refugee Convention.
With approximately 70% of the vulnerable Afghans who have applied under the special measures remaining in-country, certain regulatory requirements were lifted to allow for referrals of refugees from both inside and outside of Afghanistan.
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. To date, they have received approximately 135 Afghan nationals, of which 50 are Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) and 85 are Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSRs).
Responsive: IRCC willingness to waive document requirements
We are also continuously looking for ways to be more responsive to the complexities of the Afghanistan situation, including a potential review to waive the Refugee Status Determination for the Afghan population in certain cases.
In the context of the humanitarian program, this could expedite our client’s application process to the Private Sponsorship Program, specifically for those applying through Community Sponsors and Groups of Five.
Background
Government-Assisted Refugees
GARs receive government support on arrival for up to one year, including financial support for up to 12 months from their date of arrival, or in exceptional cases, up to 24 months.
Clients are destined to one of 39 communities across Canada, outside Quebec, and are provided immediate and essential services via one of 35 Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) service provider organizations (SPOs).
SPOs will help newly-arrived Afghans locate permanent housing and provide them with needed information on life in Canada, communities, language training, finding a job, and making connections with established immigrants and Canadians.
Cohorts
Traditional Partners – UNHCR and International Organization for Migration (IOM)
IRCC continues to work with traditional partners, such as the UNHCR and IOM, who provide key assistance managing relationships with host countries and travel arrangements for those Afghan clients who have reached a safe third country.
As of April 19, approximately 215 UNHCR-referred Afghan refugees have been resettled to Canada as part of the Humanitarian Program.
US Referrals
To date, the Department has received applications for 4,557 individuals from U.S referrals. Of these, 1,157 have landed in Canada. We committed to resettling all Afghans referred by the U.S. within five months of the applicant completing their application, and we are on track to have all those referred by the U.S. arrive in Canada before the end of the summer (and within the agreed time frame.)
NATO
Canada has a long-standing relationship with NATO and as part of its resettlement efforts, the Government of Canada has resettled nearly 470 (466) NATO-identified locally engaged staff, including their family members who are now in Canada.
Individual Cases
We cannot comment on specific cases, but I can assure you that we are working to bring as many vulnerable Afghans, as quickly as possible, to safety in Canada.
However, a full admissibility assessment – including security screening – must be completed before a decision can be reached. Some cases are complex, thus the screening aspect of the process can take additional time to ensure rigorous assessment.
We are aware and continue to process files from various groups including the Afghan women Judges, Lawyers and Members of Parliament and their families in Greece.
Private Sponsorship of Refugees
The Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program allows Canadian groups (Groups of Five, Community Sponsors and Sponsorship Agreement Holders) to identify and sponsor eligible refugees and their families. Sponsors are often extended family members, or members of the refugee’s community.
In support of this category, IRCC is providing 3,000 additional spaces to sponsor vulnerable Afghan nationals for use by our Sponsorship Agreement Holders, the not-for-profit organizations who administer these arrangements, in addition to their regular allocated spaces. This will ensure that these clients, typically family groups, have substantial support as they resettle and integrate into Canadian society.
These 3,000 spaces are in addition to the total (12,500 spaces for 2022) they are already granted to resettle refugees. This is to ensure that efforts to resettle Afghan refugees are additional and do not displace others who are also in need of protection and those whom sponsors wish to resettle in Canada.
Privately-sponsored refugees are also eligible and encouraged to receive Settlement Program support services in addition to those provided by their sponsoring groups.
Refugee Status Determination
The Refugee Status Determination (RSD) requirement for Groups of Five and Community Sponsors was put in place in 2012. RSD is the legal or administrative process by which governments or UNHCR determine whether a person seeking international protection is considered a refugee under international, regional or national law.
Sponsorship Agreement Holders are not subject to this requirement may take on cases for groups that might otherwise apply under the Group of Five or Community Sponsor streams in the event that RSDs cannot be obtained.
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.
On August 13, we announced that we will be expanding our partnership with the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation, which is also a Sponsorship Agreement Holder. IRCC is working very closely with the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation to resettle a few hundred vulnerable individuals.
In addition, Canada will expedite the resettlement of other at-risk Afghan religious and ethnic minorities referred by designated referral partners and private sponsors.
