Liberals promise to bring Yazidi refugees to Canada within 4 months

The federal government is committing to take urgent steps to bring Yazidi refugees to Canada within four months.

During question period Monday, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum announced thatLiberals will support a wide-ranging motion from the Opposition Conservatives tohelp survivors of ISIS genocide.

• ISIS slave shares her story
• Canada urged to do more for Yazidis
• MPs at odds over what to do

The vote is set to take place in the House of Commons tomorrow, and McCallum said he hopes it will pass unanimously given the "gravity" of the situation.

McCallum, who recently dispatched a team of officials to northern Iraq on a fact-finding expedition, conceded it's "not easy" to bring people out of the region, but insisted the government will act with urgency.

"We have committed to do this, and it will be done," he said.

The officials, who returned home a few days ago, interviewedpotential refugees and spoke with international stakeholders and specialists on the ground.

McCallum did not specify how many Yazidis will be brought to Canada and under what time frame given logistical difficulties on the groundand what is effectively a "war" inMosul.

"We are looking into all of the options. We will do so as quickly as possible," he said. "We agree with the Conservative Party that this is a matter of high priority and we are working on it as we speak."

McCallum urges support for Conservatives Yazidi motion

8 years ago

Duration 2:37

Immigration Minister John McCallum tells the House of Commons that he is urging Liberals to support the Conservative motion to bring more Yazidis to Canada.

The Opposition motion, tabled by Conservative immigration critic MichelleRempel, calls on 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.

Rempel said she is pleased the government will support the motion and "finally" act after wasting precious time. She urged the minister to present a clear commitment to the numberof Yazidiswhowill be brought to Canada under the government's protection.

The development comes after aYazidiwoman who escaped ISIS wrote to MPs imploring themto"give hope to the hopeless."

NadiaMuradBaseeTaha,who was abducted and held as an ISIS sex slave, is in Ottawa to meetwith MPs and to observe tomorrow'svote.

"From the bottom of my heart, I ask you to help," she wrote. "At this time, the most immediate way you can help us is by agreeing on this bipartisan motion which will recognize the genocide and support the relocation of less than 2,000Yazidis women and girls who survived enslavement, and their families."

She is set to take part in a news conference with interim Conservative LeaderRonaAmbrose tomorrow.

Taha went on to say the Yazidi people have been nearly destroyed by ISIS.

'Give hope to the hopeless'

"We have no choice but to ask countries like Canada to help us, countries that have the compassion to understand the cries of the persecuted.We,Yazidisand victims of ISIS, look to you to give new hope to the hopeless."

Over the summer, theHouse of Commons immigration committeeheard horrific accounts of torture, rape, murder and enslavement as witnessesoffered emotional testimony about atrocities carried out by ISIS.

After a warning thattestimonymay be "upsetting" to members of the committee and viewing public,MPs heard shocking stories of mass killings, children raped by multiple men several times a day, and mothers being forced to feed on the flesh of their own children.

Rape, torture, slavery by ISIS

Taha, who wasappointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, told her story of being captured, enslaved, and enduringweeks of rape and torture.She is working withinternational human rights lawyer Amal Clooneytopersuade the International Criminal Court to open an investigation regarding ISIS crimes.

Shebroke down in tears recounting theSinjarmassacre, in which 4,000 people were killed, 6,000 takenhostageandanother 4,000 forced to flee to the mountains.

TheYazidisare a religious minority with an ancient 6,000-year-old culture, and arebased mainly in northern Iraq.

ISIS launched brutal attacks targeting theYazidi community in August 2014.

In June, a United Nations report said ISIS wasseeking to destroy the community of 400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes.

The report said the militants had been systematically rounding up Yazidis, seeking to "erase their identity," a finding that meets the definition of genocide under the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide.

Foreign Affairs Minister StphaneDion subsequently declared that genocide was underway.

Today, Conservative foreign affairs critic Peter Kent said many of the Yazidis are not considered refugees by the UN and arestuck in a "terrible limbo" as internally displaced persons facing discrimination and segregation in Muslim-run camps.