Processing of Syrians can be ‘fast, effective’
System includes three checks on possible security concerns: expert
A respected authority on immigration and refugees says Canada and the United Nations have the operational know-how and security safeguards to safely vet 25,000 Syrians for rapid resettlement.
But the question remains: Can the humanitarian resettlement project be pulled off by the Liberal government’s looming Dec. 31 deadline without compromising domestic security?
“I hate answering that question at this point,” said Peter Showler, former chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board and former director of the Refugee Forum at the University of Ottawa.
However, he said, “It is possible in a relatively short period of time — with no reference one way or the other to the deadline — to do fast, effective processing that includes reliable security screening.”
Immigration Minister John McCallum has repeatedly said the would-be refugees will be properly screened. “I think his implication has been that if it takes longer, if it goes over the deadline, then it goes over the deadline,” Showler said in an interview with the Citizen.
“Certainly my understanding from him is that getting the job done properly is the priority.”
Showler’s appraisal came as the Citizen learned a planeload of Syrian refugees had arrived in Montreal on Tuesday. Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship spokesman Remi Lariviere confirmed the landing, but did not immediately make clear whether the group was part of the 25,000 targeted for resettlement under the Liberals’ plan.
The government says details on how it will modify the normal refugee-resettlement process to meet its year-end deadline will be released in coming days.
“We know it’s going to have to be somewhat different because if there’s 25,000 people coming through, even allowing that most of them will probably be families of some kind, regardless, certainly they’re not going to be doing onehour visa officer interviews” that are typically done, Showler said.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale Wednesday tried to reassure Canadians the timetable will not compromise safety.
“There have been very enormous efforts and thorough consultations ... to make sure that that system is strong,” Goodale said.
Michel Coulombe, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, added: “I want Canadians to know that as director of CSIS I am confident that the measures in place are robust and appropriate.”
Under normal circumstances, Showler explained, Canada’s refugee-resettlement process happens in three phases. His comments are based largely on his experience helping Syrian and other refugees in Lebanon last year.
It begins with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Refugees cannot apply to the UNHCR for resettlement; they must be selected by the agency. Of the 1.1 million refugees in Lebanon last year, UNHCR chose about 10,000 to be considered for referral for resettlement around the world.
The primary criterion is vulnerability. High on that list are people who would be at risk in their homelands, such as a woman with four or five children struggling to support her family. LGBT refugees and people physically injured in the Syrian conflict also would be considered in need of sanctuary.
But the UNHCR doesn’t do formal security screening. “Because it’s only one or two per cent (of the refugee population) that are even considered, any refugee that in any way has any involvement in the conflict, anyone that participated that they know about, anybody that would have extremist views” wouldn’t get into the very small UNHCR pool, Showler said.
UNHRC refugee-protection officers occasionally do what’s called a “refugee status elimination review,” but it is often just a paper review.
Still, Showler said protection officers are “extremely knowledgeable” about the chaotic Syrian conflict, “so anything that’s inconsistent, anything where the story doesn’t really fit with what they know about Syria, those files are just not referred through.”
Phase two begins when a UNHCR referral lands on the desk of a visa officer at a Canadian embassy. The officer must reach a comparable conclusion to the UNHCR that the person is a good candidate for resettlement.
“Once again, they look for any triggers, any markers that would suggest that this would somehow be inconsistent or would suggest any kind of security concerns.”
The visa officer would normally then schedule a meeting lasting about an hour with the individuals, which Showler suspects will be impossible when vetting 25,000 potential newcomers.
“What they’re doing is really looking at the consistency of the story, and if there are any small concerns or doubts about the credibility, that’s where those questions occur.”
If the visa officer is satisfied, he or she recommends the person be resettled.
Phase three is security screening by Canada-based CSIS, RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency officers. Names, travel documents and sometime a person’s biometrics are checked against national and international police and security intelligence databases.
Goodale and CBSA president Linda Lizotte-MacPherson said Wednesday no refugees will be allowed into Canada until those checks come back clean.
But many Syrians fled without travel documents or are travelling on fake identification. One of last week’s Paris attackers might have slipped into Europe amid the refugee flow on a fake Syrian passport.
Showler expects Canadian officials will reduce the risk further by setting additional parameters.
One low-risk category would be Syrians opposed to the Assad regime who fled early in the civil war, before ISIL rose to prominence. They are typically professionals of some sort: urban, middle-class and among the first victims of the war.
Another group are refugees related to about 40,000 Syrian-Canadians already in the country — especially families that have tried for years to get relatives resettled here.
(Canadian visa officers) look for any triggers, any markers that would suggest that this would somehow be inconsistent or would suggest any kind of security concerns.