Yazidis to Canada (split fm SYR Refugees to Canada)

[The Bread Guy]

Interesting ...

As the Conservatives push for more help for Yazidis fleeing persecution at the hands of Islamic militants, new information suggests their efforts to do so while in government were minimal.

Data from a controversial audit of Syrian refugee cases ordered by former prime minister Stephen Harper late last spring reveals of 546 people reviewed, three identified as Yazidi, a Kurdish minority group which practices an ancient faith.

Immigration officials also told a House of Commons committee Monday that Yazidis were never highlighted specifically by the Conservatives as a group that should be prioritized for resettlement, even with their targeted approach to resettlement.

The data and the testimony Monday give both the Liberal and the Conservative arguments over Canada's refugee policy some new energy after the file was a political flashpoint for most of 2015.

The Conservatives' areas-of-focus policy drew heavy criticism, with many arguing it flew in the face of international obligations that see the UN choose who is resettled. The Tories argued that they were using the UN criteria, but were drilling down within them to ensure the most vulnerable were helped.

The Tories put religious minorities in that category, but the data obtained by The Canadian Press under access-to-information laws suggest the vast majority of landed Syrians whose files were audited were Sunni Muslim, as is the refugee population at large. About three dozen were Christian.

That few Yazidis arrived under their watch is a fact the Tories haven't dwelled on as they have been pushing the Liberals for more action ...

This, from about a month ago ...

... the Conservatives are urging the government to create a special resettlement program for about 400 internally displaced Yazidi women and girls who have been victims of sexual slavery, Kenney said. Several hundred of these women live in camps for internally displaced people in the Kurdish region of Iraq, near Irbil, he said ...

 

[The Bread Guy]

A BBC story about an NGO, partly funded by Canada, tracking down folks doing bad things to the Yazidis - highlights mine ...

Two years ago this week, an atrocity helped launch the international campaign to turn back the advance of so-called Islamic State (IS). Thousands of terrified villagers fled for their lives near Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq, as heavily armed IS fighters attacked their ancestral homeland.

The victims were Yazidis, an ancient community considered heretical or even sub-human by IS jihadists. Hundreds fled up the mountainside where many died in the scorching heat.

Most of the men of fighting age who were captured were summarily slaughtered.

For the women and girls rounded up by IS, a living hell awaited.

For investigator Bill Wiley*, the chief investigator at the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, it is clear that IS had sex slavery in mind.

He says: "The evidence is overwhelming that Islamic State forces went into Iraq in mid-2014 with a plan to enslave Yazidis, those that they did not murder, and to traffic these women and girls into sexual slavery."

Slave-owners identified

Funded by the Canadian and German governments, a team of experienced war crimes investigators has so far identified 49 slave-owners and a further 34 men holding senior positions in the IS infrastructure.

It is these "policy-makers" the team are focusing on, as they hold them responsible for a systematic enslavement that saw women forcibly trafficked across northern Iraq and Syria ...

* - According to this mini bio, "William Wiley is the Founder and Director of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA). William formerly worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at both the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia as well as the International Criminal Court, was an infantry officer in the Canadian military and worked on war crimes investigations in the Department of Justice."

 

[The Bread Guy]

Not JUST from SYR, but this thread seemed the closest fit ...

• “House of Commons votes 313 to 0 to provide Yazidis refuge in Canada” (The Canadian Press (CP))
• “Who are the Yazidis and why is Canada bringing them in?” (CP)
• “Canada to Take in Yezidi Refugees” (basnews.com, Kurdish media)
• “Canada parliament votes to take in Kurdish Yazidi refugees” (ekurd.net, Kurdish media)
• “… “The Government of Canada is committed to offering protection to the Yazidi population at risk. We support the terms of the motion to bring Yazidis to Canada within 120 days …” (Immigration Canada info-machine)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

While the Yazidi sure got the short end of the stick and are true refugees, their culture is very old and conservative, not sure how well it will fit here.

 

[Lightguns]

While the Yazidi sure got the short end of the stick and are true refugees, their culture is very old and conservative, not sure how well it will fit here.

Ack that, no marriage outside the group on pain of death, no marriage outside your own caste within the group also on pain of death.  It's wonder they can keep their gene diverse with only about 600,000 of them in all the world before ISIL.  Only the leadership caste can have more than one wife.  No service in the host nation's government or public service, no voluntary paying of taxes to host nation and no charity outside the group. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Ack that, no marriage outside the group on pain of death, no marriage outside your own caste within the group also on pain of death.  It's wonder they can keep their gene diverse with only about 600,000 of them in all the world before ISIL.  Only the leadership caste can have more than one wife.  No service in the host nation's government or public service, no voluntary paying of taxes to host nation and no charity outside the group.

That IS pretty strict - and it will be interesting to see how they settle in here.

 

[George Wallace]

That IS pretty strict - and it will be interesting to see how they settle in here.

Well....We have the Amish, Doukhobors, Mennonites and other sects that follow similar societal rules; although not to the extent of having a "Death Sentence" for noncompliance.  If we continue to strictly enforce our Laws reference to murder, should we expect to see a rise in "Honour Killings" if we accept them?  :-\  :dunno:

 

[Colin Parkinson]

ISIS might have broken the thread that held them together and the survivors might be more amenable to newer concepts.

 

[The Bread Guy]

ISIS might have broken the thread that held them together and the survivors might be more amenable to newer concepts.

Or maybe helped them ... priorize the more critical "must keeps" of their religion/culture? 

Well....We have the Amish, Doukhobors, Mennonites and other sects that follow similar societal rules; although not to the extent of having a "Death Sentence" for noncompliance.  If we continue to strictly enforce our Laws reference to murder, should we expect to see a rise in "Honour Killings" if we accept them?  :-\  :dunno:

Good point on the orange - cause for hope/optimism - but I'll leave it to those with WAY more knowledge than me on the yellow.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Helping the Yazidi truly seems honorable and a better use of resources than force-fitting Syrians in Canada for image and political gain.

 

[Lightguns]

I found three honour killings amongst their diaspora reported in the news. 1 in Germany, 1 in Georgia (Republic) and 1 in Iraq.  I am sure there but one was a

man wanting to be part of the wide material society, the other two women who fell in love outside the tribe.  The more interesting question is how will they treat returning members as ISIL is rolled up and their abducted women and children return.  They have been subjected to this ethnic violence on average every 70 years since Islam displaced the other religions in the ME, certainly they must have a robust re-intergration culture.

Personally, I would have been prepared to help them all over there.  Even if it meant Canada opening and running it's own refugee camp exclusive of the UN and local money grabbers. 

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I want to help them, but I think it will need to made painfully clear that they are subject to our rules, not theirs and with the current government, I can't see them being that straight talking. It might be better to fund a camp either in the Kurdish region or Turkey were they will fit in better.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... It might be better to fund a camp either in the Kurdish region or Turkey were they will fit in better.

Funny you should mention that -- the Peshmerga Canada's supporting seem to agree with you:

The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq opposes the Canadian plan to bring what could be thousands of Yazidi refugees to Canada in the next four months.

The office of Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani issued a strongly worded statement Thursday, the same day Canadian MPs convened on Parliament Hill to hear testimony from German officials who organized that country's efforts to rescue Yazidi survivors of the genocide taking place in north Iraq.

"Yazidis are indigenous minority and [the Kurdish regional government] is against any organized attempt to mass migrate members of its community," said the statement released to CBC News by a spokeswoman for Barzani.

"Prime Minister Barzani thinks the aid and support should be delivered to them in their country."

A senior official in Barzani's government went further, in an exclusive interview with CBC News, saying the administration is upset with the Canadian government, claiming there has been no consultation with the regional Kurdish authority or the Yazidi community in northern Iraq.​

The first time Yazidis heard about the Canadian plan was in the media, said Khairi Bozani, the Kurdish government's director general of Yazidi affairs, which is part of the ministry of endowment and religious affairs in the semi-autonomous region.

"How is that possible for the people of one country to decide for the people of another country that they're going to come and take 10,000–15,000 people out?" Bozani told CBC News. "They never consulted with the government."

He urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to open a dialogue with officials in Erbil, the Kurdish capital, but suggested the snub has strained relations ...

I'm sensing another one of these here  :worms:

And for those worrying about polygamist refugees & benefits, this, from the Kurdish media:
"Yezidi with 3 wives, 34 kids was ready to marry again but ISIS ruined plans"

 

[Journeyman]

The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq opposes the Canadian plan to bring what could be thousands of Yazidi refugees to Canada in the next four months.

.....part of the ministry of endowment and religious affairs in the semi-autonomous region.

There's got to be circumcision joke in there somewhere.....   

 

[armyvern]

34 kids amongst only 3 wives.  Ouch. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

More from Kurdish media:

The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq opposes the Canadian plan to bring what could be thousands of Kurdish Yazidi refugees to Canada in the next four months.

The office of Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani issued a strongly worded statement Thursday, the same day Canadian MPs convened on Parliament Hill to hear testimony from German officials who organized that country’s efforts to rescue Yazidi survivors of the genocide taking place in north Iraq.

“Yazidis are indigenous minority and [the Kurdish regional government] is against any organized attempt to mass migrate members of its community,” said the statement released to CBC News by a spokeswoman for Barzani.

“Prime Minister Barzani thinks the aid and support should be delivered to them in their country.”

A senior official in Barzani’s government went further, in an exclusive interview with CBC News, saying the administration is upset with the Canadian government, claiming there has been no consultation with the regional Kurdish authority or the Yazidi community in northern Iraq.

The first time Yazidis heard about the Canadian plan was in the media, said Khairi Bozani, the Kurdish government’s director general of Yazidi affairs, which is part of the ministry of endowment and religious affairs in the semi-autonomous region ...

 

[The Bread Guy]

More from Kurdish media, shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...:

Kurdish Yezidis from Sinjar district are calling for international community's support for the reconstruction of their areas, and the mayor of the district stated that Canada needs to help reconstruct the Yezidi areas instead of taking in the Yezidi IDPs.

Mahma Khalil, the mayor of Sinjar, told BasNews on Monday, November 21, that none of the countries has yet offered to contribute to the reconstruction of Sinjar town.

He stated that Canada should rather contribute to the reconstruction of Sinjar district to help Yezidis return to their areas instead of taking them in.

The Canadian government recently decided to take in 10,000 Yezidi refugees.

The official believes that the international community needs to help reconstruct Sinjar town instead of taking in the Yezidi refugees.

He also slammed the decision of the European countries for taking in Yezidis, arguing that it encourages Yezidis to leave their hometown in Kurdistan Region.

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

I read the Kurdish leader's argument yesterday, and candidly it makes a lot of sense.

With good intentions, Canada could be ethnically cleansing an area of the Yazidi culture.....hope Justin & crew reconsider.

 

[George Wallace]

I read the Kurdish leader's argument yesterday, and candidly it makes a lot of sense.

With good intentions, Canada could be ethnically cleansing an area of the Yazidi culture.....hope Justin & crew reconsider.

Is this not turning into a "Damned if you do. Damned if you don't" situation?

 

[GAP]

Has anyone asked what the 10,000 Yazidi's want?