'International leadership:' MPs chart new course by bringing Yazidi genocide survivors to Canada

Withless than four months to move as many as severalthousand Yazidisto Canada from conflict zonesand refugee camps, MPs will learn from officials this week about the complex security and operational hurdles ahead.

Last month, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a Conservative motion to provide assistance and asylum to survivors of ISIS genocide, mainly from within the Yazidi ethnic minority group. Now, the government must develop a quick action plan thatsteps outside the traditional United Nations process.

The Yazidi genocide survivorsare currently trappedin high-conflict areas in Northern Iraq or waitingin refugee camps in Syria, Greece and Turkey.

• MPs agree on Yazidiplan
• Liberals to help Yazidisin 120 days
• Fact-finding mission to Iraq

On Thursday, MPs on the citizenship andimmigration committee will hear about the biggest challenges, first from Canadian officials who were dispatched to northern Iraq on a fact-finding mission, then from German officials about their own experience helping to rescueYazidi refugees.

Liberal MP and committee chair Borys Wrzesnewskyj said Canada couldchart a new process for the world by helping the most vulnerable victims of atrocities outside the UN regime.

Calling thisa "new reality," he said Canada must not wring its hands in the face of horrors, but rather adapt and act with moral authority.

'International leadership'

"There's clearly a lack in the established frameworks, and perhaps this is a role Canada can take on internationally and lead in," Wrzesnewskyjtold CBC News. "The fact we're taking in a number of genocide survivors women and girls who have gone through unimaginable horrors we're taking international leadership by doing this."

Despite the tremendous challenges, he hopes the committee can provide parliamentary oversight to Canada'sprocess, and even provide a template for other countries to follow.

"There is almost a personal element to this, and we want to make sure we do this in a way that Canadians can point to with pride and say, 'We made a difference for these genocide survivors,'" he said.

Yazidisare one of the oldest religious and ethnic minorities in the world witha6,000-year-old culture,based mainly in northern Iraq.

Sexual slavery

In August 2014, ISIS launched brutal attacks targeting theYazidicommunity, forcing young women and girls into sexual slavery and converting young boys and men tomilitant fighters.

In June, a United Nations report said ISIS wasseeking to destroy the community of 400,000 people, systematically rounding up Yazidis to "erase their identity." That finding meets the definition of genocide under the1948 UN Convention on Genocide.

Foreign Affairs MinisterStphaneDionsubsequently declared that genocide was underway.

The House unanimously adopted the multi-pronged Conservative motion on Oct. 25, with a four-monthtarget to bring in an unspecified number of Yazidis.

Recommended target?

Conservative Immigration critic Michelle Rempel, who spearheaded the motion, declinedto offer arecommended target number but said non-governmental groups have suggested between 3,000 and 5,000 is doable.

"There is no reason that if they committed to 25,000 refugees this year, Germany has brought in over 1,000, that we can not bring in a significant number," she said.

After lengthy delays caused by what she called "bureaucratic pushback" in Canada and at the UN, she said the situation is now urgent. Rempel said responding outside the UN referral systemcouldbe "precedent-setting."

Rempel believes the many challenges rangingfrom the technical and legal issues of going in to a sovereign countryto assuring safety for Canadian processingagents can be overcome with collaboration between the federal government officials and the military coalition on the ground.

But she insisted this operationcan't be viewed as a rescue mission alone. Canada must workto create "safe zones" for Yazidis still at risk of persecution, even in camps. Specializedtreatments are also required forwomen and girl survivors of rape and torture who are suffering physical and mental trauma.

Murad Ismael, executive director of advocacy group Yazda,hopes Canada will bring in a "substantial" number of Yazidis, who are now displaced in northern Iraq and in refugee camps in Syria, Greece and Turkey.

Preserving culture, language

"I think it is important to bring in a sufficient number to also allow a Yazidi community to be created in Canada;a community of thousands thatwill also allow Yazidis to preserve their traditions, culture and language," he said.

There are only an estimated1,000 Yazidis living in Canada now, residing primarily in Winnipeg and Toronto.The Yazidi faith requires that a child have two Yazidi parents andmixed marriages arestrongly discouraged.

Ismael recommends aphased programwouldprioritizesurvivors of sexual slavery anddirect victims of genocide in Iraq, as well as those in refugee camps in Turkey, Greece and Syria.

He said the challenges are significant but surmountable.

"The challenge of going outside the UN system is to screen and find those who are most vulnerable," he said. "However, we believe it is possible to navigate this challenge through using databases of the victims already in place....(the) selection process perhaps isthe most tricky one and clear parameters beforehand should make the selection easier."

Nancy Caron, a spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, said the government is committed to offering protection to the Yazidi population at risk, but is moving ahead with great caution.

Next steps

"We recognize that operating in the region is complex and could pose risks. It is imperative that we consider the next steps very carefully," she said."Officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada are meeting with key partners to gather as much information on how we can best assist the most vulnerable members of this community as quickly as we can."

The Opposition motion, tabled by Rempel, calledon the House of Commons to:

• Recognize that ISIS is committing genocide against theYazidipeople.
• Acknowledge that manyYazidiwomen and girls are still being held captive by ISIS as sexual slaves.
• Support theUnited Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria report and take immediate action on key recommendations.
• Provide asylum toYazidiwomen and girlswithin 120 days.

• 'I wished I was killed': Yazidi ISIS slave shares her harrowing story