February 6th, 2017

Yazidi women and girls have been increasingly raped, traded and sold as sex slaves amongst ISIS fighters in recent years. They are Iraq's (and amongst the world's) most persecuted minority group.

Parliament voted unanimously last October in support of MP Michelle Rempel’s motion to acknowledge this genocide against the Yazidi people and to welcome Yazidi women and children to safety in Canada within 120 days. The government would not commit to a specific number of Yazidis to be welcomed but government officials hinted in November that they would only target 50 women and girls for safe asylum, a move that CPC interim-leader Rona Ambrose called “a token effort”.

We are now quickly approaching the end of the 120 days given in the motion and a recent interview with newly-appointed Minister of Immigration, Ahmed Hussen, revealed that the government is “still on track" to meet its commitment to bring persecuted Yazidis to Canada by the end of this month.

However, the government has not yet committed to a number of Yazidis Canada will welcome, they have not yet outlined a resettlement plan, and they have yet to resettle a single Yazidi to Canada.

Prime Minister Trudeau made headlines around the world last week when he tweeted the hashtag “#WelcomeToCanada” in response to Donald’s Trump immigration “pause”. Let’s encourage Trudeau now to make good on his hashtag and welcome these most persecuted Yazidi people to safety in Canada.

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

1) SEND E-MAILS
Please e-mail PM Trudeau, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, and your own Member of Parliament and ask them to act on their promise to welcome Yazidi women and girls to Canada in a significant way.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Justin.Trudeau@parl.gc.ca

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen: Ahmed.Hussen@parl.gc.ca

Your Member of Parliament: Click here to find your MP by postal code.

2) WATCH / SHARE VIDEO:
Please watch the video of MY Canada’s National Director, Faytene Grasseschi, and One Free World International Director, Majed El Shafie (below) as they discuss Donald Trump’s immigration “pause”, Majed’s first-hand on-the-ground experience with refugees and UN camps, and what Canadians can do to help protect persecuted minorities.

Please also share the video on social media.

Thank you for taking action!