CIMM – Collaboration with Other Departments and Security Partners – Sudan – March 20, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) supported Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) emergency consular operation to evacuate Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and their immediate family members. The assisted departure involved flights from Sudan and Djibouti to Nairobi from April 27 to 30, 2023.
• As part of the consular operation, IRCC worked closely with GAC, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to confirm identity of individuals. This helped GAC and CAF in making informed decisions regarding passenger clearance.
• IRCC works closely with Public Safety and partners (CBSA, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) to carry out security screening for all immigration applications. This allows for comprehensive security screening to help mitigate potential security and criminality risks with those seeking to enter Canada. IRCC also works with these partners to check against international databases for the purpose of confirming identity and determining admissibility.
• For more facts and figures, please refer to note 9.A. Sudan Key Figures.

Key Messages

• Canada is deeply concerned for the safety of people in the area, which is why IRCC worked with GAC and other partner departments on assisted departure for Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members living in Sudan in late April 2023.
• Individuals who departed Sudan with assistance from GAC and CAF did not need to submit an immigration application in Sudan. As a result, security screening, including biometric collection, was not conducted prior to departure from Sudan but took place once clients submitted an application to IRCC once in Nairobi.

Supplementary Information

If pressed on security screening: 

• Security screening is a regular part of the review process and biometric checks help identify people who may be inadmissible or pose a threat to Canada.

• Clients who submitted an application to IRCC following their evacuation from Sudan were required to complete eligibility and admissibility assessments, including security screening.

If pressed on the decision to bring people in a third country (i.e. why did we drop people off in Nairobi): 

• When responding to international crises, Canada tailors each response to meet the unique needs of those who require our support while reflecting the realities of the situation on the ground. It’s important to remember that the situation in Khartoum was volatile and was deteriorating rapidly.
• During that period, our focus was on facilitating arrivals to Kenya, as it served as a third country for conducting the necessary processing and screening of clients before travel to Canada. Through collaborative efforts with regional authorities, Redacted. The presence of IRCC's processing operations in Nairobi helped to facilitate the smooth transfer of affected persons to Kenya.