Testimony Monday: Refugee and Immigration Officials

testimony monday: 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, according to CBC. Yazidi refugees settle into life in Winnipeg Syrian refugee sponsorship 'blitz' ends with thousands of arrivals still months away The data and the testimony Monday give both the Liberal and the Conservative arguments over Canada refugee policy some new energy after the file was a political flashpoint for most of 2015. 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. 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 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. The Tories argued that they were using the UN criteria, but were drilling down within them to ensure the most vulnerable were helped. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.