CIMM Committee Report

Dissenting Interim Report by the New Democratic Party of Canada

Introduction:

There is no question that the severity of the global refugee crisis requires international cooperation.

“In 2017, 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Of these, 40 million were internally displaced persons (IDPs), 25.4 million were refugees and 3.1 million were asylum-seekers. The number of new displacements in 2017 was equivalent to an average of 44,400 people being forced to flee their homes every day or 24 people displaced every minute.”[i]

As part of the current extremely broad and far reaching study, where just about anything related to immigration and refugees can be part of the study, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) has added additional meetings to this gigantic study to examine the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, Regular Migration (GCM), and the United Nations Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). 

These compacts are significant UN level attempts to update the international migration and refugee regimes since the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. One of the most important aspects of the compact is the acknowledgement that 10 countries host 60% of the world’s refugee population, and that 88% of refugees are currently in low and middle-income countries. The unequal impact of the global refugee crisis on these countries is significant, and without improved international cooperation there is a risk that these countries could be less welcoming of these vulnerable populations. This is evidenced by the fact that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates global protection needs for these vulnerable persons at roughly $8 billion in 2018, yet they will receive only half of that funding.[ii]

Given Canada’s historic leadership on both immigration and specifically refugee resettlement, it is the opinion of New Democrats that Canada should be a member state of both compacts and continue to work cooperatively with our international partners in this humanitarian crisis even though the compacts are completely non-binding and do not change laws. As well, Canada should seize on the opportunity presented by the compacts to export best practices and to share the lessons we’ve learned through our own efforts.

For example, with Canada’s effort in the Syrian Refugee Initiative, Canadians should be very proud of the fact that 40,000 Syrian refugees were resettled in Canada from 4 November 2015 to 1 March 2016[iii]. However, it should also be noted that Canada’s contribution to the global refugee crisis through the Syrian refugee is only 0.16% of the overall global crisis. We must put in context the action of Canada based on the reality that we are faced with, that is, the largest number of people displaced globally since WWII; and we need to recognize that Canada is geographically isolated from world conflict zones as our only land border is shared with Canada’s longtime ally and one of the world’s most powerful economies. As such, we must recognize that the Syrian civil war began in 2011, four years before our initiative, and by November 2015 the conflict had already produced over 4,000,000 refugees[iv]. The mass exodus of Syrian and other refugees from Middle Eastern countries produced a migration crisis in much of Europe that needed to be addressed immediately. By November 2015, Germany had registered nearly 1,000,000 new asylum seekers in 2015 alone[v].

It is with that in mind that we must also recognize that Canada has much to learn from the international community regarding the impact global migration has on the countries most impacted, many of which are Global South countries faced with extreme poverty, and determine what additional action Canada can take in this global humanitarian crisis. As noted by a Prof. Craig Damian Smith, it would be a mistake for Canada to associate itself with the policies regarding immigration being advocated for currently in the countries that have refused to join the international community in engaging in these compacts.[vi]

Although the NDP supports the main recommendation of the interim report, a dissenting opinion is being attached. First, this is because the majority of the committee report glosses over or outright ignores a significant amount of testimony and the recommendations presented by expert witnesses on the subject matter. Second, it has become clear that both the Liberal party and the Conservative party are extremely partisan with their approaches regarding the compacts.

The Liberal government’s approach of reciting their message box of back-patting and self-congratulating does little to advance work on this humanitarian crisis. Equally important, it is not helpful that the Conservative party continues to hold a troubling view on migration and are actively contributing to the spread of misinformation to delegitimize and dehumanize asylum seekers thereby opening Canada up to the rise in anti-immigrant and anti-refugee populism that has spread through much of the Global North. They continue to label asylum seekers as illegals, and are suggesting – despite acknowledging that these compacts are entirely non-bonding and that Canada has always played a key role in global humanitarian efforts – that these compacts will somehow undermine our sovereignty. They would even go so far as to suggest that the compacts will police the language politicians can use to discuss migration. These kinds of dog whistle politics is not only harmful to Canada’s multicultural policy, it’s harmful to humanity. 

To focus on the most important issues at hand, that is, the humanitarian crisis before us, in addition to the recommendations contained within the main interim report, New Democrats propose additional recommendations, and stress that these compacts should be supported across partisan lines. It is in everyone’s best interest to understand the current global migration trends, the current forced migration crisis, the need for international cooperation on these fronts, and the recognition that while Canada does many things well, we can and should do more on several fronts.

The Safe Third Country Agreement

Since the Emergency Debate in the House of Commons 31 January 2017[vii], the NDP has stood with refugee law experts, refugee advocacy groups, and human rights advocacy groups, pushing the government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the United States. It was noted by many of the witnesses and is also referenced in the appendix of the main report that the United States is not signing on to either the GCM or the GCR. While the STCA is not directly related to either compact, there was significant conversation pursued by members of committee from all parties regarding the continued participation in the STCA, and the government’s continued view that the United States remains a safe country for asylum seekers.

Witnesses were clear; the current policies enacted by the US Administration have made the country not safe for asylum seekers. The UNHCR representative noted that the recent firing of tear gas at would-be asylum seekers before they reached the US southern border as a deterrent – what Mr. Craig Smith referred to as a ‘hot return’[viii] – was in contravention of the 1951 UN Convention.[ix] 

Outside of department officials, no witness supported Canada’s continued participation in the STCA.

Prof. James Milner, in his critique of the STCA did tie it to Canada’s ability to advocate for progressive humanitarian international policy though, stating:

“I think that speaks very much to the question of having coherence between our domestic policy and our international policy and ensuring that Canada has moral authority, which enables Canada to demonstrate that leadership and, frankly, benefit from the global standing that comes from being a leader on such a global issue.”[x]

He had previously questioned:

“If Canada adopts more restrictive approaches to the arrival of 50,000 individuals crossing our border… There are questions to be asked about the way the response has been coordinated and communicated and what have you, but if Canada responds in a particular way to that movement, what ability does Canada then have to speak to Uganda to Uganda to remain open to the arrival of 800,000 refugees from South Sudan?”[xi]

In addition to being outraged that the Liberal party continues to suggest the US is a safe country for asylum as they fire tear gas at unarmed migrants looking to claim asylum, New Democrats recognize the ripple effect that the Liberal and Conservative party’s support for the STCA could have with our international partners that Prof. Milner is alluding to. By ignoring the mounting evidence that US is not a safe country for asylum seekers as the Liberal government insists, or by expanding the enforcement of the STCA as the Conservative party has suggested, we risk undermining Canada’s ability to advocate for best practices we’ve developed and lessons we have learned. Prof. Milner rightly questions, how can Canada tell Uganda or another Global South country to continue hosting the vast majority of refugees, while we look for ways to block asylum claimants from even entering our country? It’s hypocritical at best.

It is with that in mind that New Democrats recommend:

• 1. That the government of Canada invoke Article 10 of the Safe Third Country Agreement to immediately suspend the Agreement

Making use of Frozen Assets:

During the organization’s now third appearance at CIMM for this study, the World Refugee Council (WRC) Chair, the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy P.C., echoed previous testimony by his WRC colleague, the Hon. Allan Rock P.C., that as part of our actions in support of the GCM and GCR, that Canada look to expand its Magnitsky Act to not just freeze the assets of those sanctioned for things such as human rights abuses that causes forced displacement, but to seize and reallocate those assets to help fund displaced populations.

The Hon. Mr. Axworthy explained:

“That’s one reason that we’re very strong in bringing in and having countries endorse the idea of setting up a reallocation of frozen assets so that there is no impunity in terms of being able to protect your ill-gotten treasures, when in fact they can be attached through a proper legal process and be returned to help support the serious gaps in funding that refugee groups now have.”[xii]

He went on to say:

“I think this is a very specific thing, and it has a double whammy: its more money for the system and it’s also a way of putting a real deterrent to the actions of people right now wo are so much the cause of the refugee movements.”[xiii] 

It is with this mind that New Democrats recommend:

• 2. That the government of Canada introduce legislation to expand upon the Magnitsky Act to allow for frozen assets to be legally seized and repurposed to fund refugee groups internationally, modelled after similar legislation currently in place in Switzerland

Humanitarian and Development Aid:

Witnesses appearing before the committee also spoke to the need for Canada to contribute more through humanitarian and development to the refugee host countries, including through the official development assistance (ODA).[xiv] The Committee was urged to push the government to leverage funding through providing predictable, flexible, and multi-year support to help meet Sustainable Development Goals, which can reduce forced displacement globally.[xv]

Unfortunately, it was noted that while the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sets a contribution target of 0.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) dedicated to ODA, Canada only contributes 0.26% - which is actually a decrease from 0.31% in 2012.[xvi]

Meeting our OECD developmental aid targets will help mitigate the drivers of forced displacement we are seeing around the world. Canada meeting the target, in the context of the compacts, will also allow for us to push other wealthy nations to do the same. Therefore, New Democrats recommend:

• 3. That the government of Canada review its contribution to the UNHCR and other non-governmental organizations working in the field to increase Canada’s official development assistance and met the objective proposed by the OECD.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs):

New Democrats note that mechanisms to deal with the issue of internal displacement, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are absent from both the GCM and the GCR, despite these vulnerable group totaling 40 million people globally. Rev. Majed El Shafie of One Free World International appeared before the committee and spoke about his organizations work in providing aid, support, resettlement, and other services to the Yazidi people during their internal displacement which occurred as part of a UN recognized genocide undertaken by ISIS. With Rev. El Shafie, Adiba, a Yazidi refugee resettled in Canada spoke to her experiences both at the hands of ISIS and now in Canada.

It is clear that IDPs represent a significant challenge for the international community, especially in cases where it is the State displacing its own people, not a non-state actor like ISIS. However, Canada has and does act to provide aid and resettlement opportunities for IDPs, such as our Yazidi initiative and the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Program (RRAP), for LGBTQ+ refugees and internally displaced persons. The gravity of the testimony provided to the committee informs the NDP to recommend:

• 4. That the government of Canada, through the forums created by the GCM  and GCR, engage with the international community to develop durable solutions for IDPs
• 5. That the government of Canada develop a stream of humanitarian immigration for IDPs, building off and improving from the now cancelled “Source Country Class” immigration stream

Conclusion:

It is clear that there are many aspects of our immigration and refugee systems that Canadians can be proud of, and that our government can share with our global partners. It is clear that the GCM and the GCR provide a great opportunity to do this. It is also clear that the GCM and GCR will also provide refugee host countries to better engage with Global North countries to explain their needs and the impacts record levels of migration – forced and voluntary – are having on their nations. It is in the best interests of Canada, and our international partners to be active signatories to these compacts. We must recognize the unequal burden being placed on Global South nations and that Canada can and needs to do more to share in that burden. There exists a variety of mechanisms to do this, and the forums created by the GCM and GCR provide Canada with the opportunity to understand which mechanisms will provide the greatest benefit.

New Democrats support Canada joining in these compacts, and additionally call on the government to take action on the additional five recommendations contained in this dissenting opinion. This should not be a partisan issue. The current situations, especially involving forced migration, should transcend Canadian partisan politics. Bragging rights and misrepresentation should be left at the door because what is at issue is our humanitarianism and our collective efforts to support basic human rights.