MPS vote unanimously to provide refuge to Yazidis

OTTAWA — With a freed Yazidi sex slave watching from the gallery, the House of Commons voted unanimously Tuesday to acknowledge a genocide against her people and to offer safe haven in Canada to vulnerable women and girls by the end of February.

Nadia Murad, described by the Conservatives as a victim of sex trafficking at the hands of members of the Islamic State terrorist group, has been lobbying MPs this week on behalf of her hardhit fellow Yazidis.

She received an ovation from the House before MPs voted 313-0 to adopt a Conservative motion calling on the federal government to help her fellow Yazidis within the next 120 days.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his personal assurance that help is in the offing.

“I am pleased to see Nadia again today and reassure her that in the coming months we are committed to bring in … vulnerable Yazidi refugees,” he said during question period.

The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority who used to dwell mainly in northern Iraq, have been targeted by Islamic State militants over the last two years. Thousands of Yazidi men were killed, while thousands of women and girls were carried off, bought and sold in slave markets.

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, who helped guide the motion through the House, said she wants to see a concrete action plan to help the Yazidis, saying that will count more than words.

Immigration Minister John McCallum confirmed the government intends to act.

“We on this side of the House are every bit as enthusiastic and committed to welcoming Yazidis to this country,” he said.