An emotional three days of testimony before the House of Commons immigration committee has ended with no resolution about what to do to help minority refugees facing genocide in the Middle East.
The MPs appeared visibly shaken as they heard stories of atrocities carried out by by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL) against Yazidis in Iraq.
Witnesses told the committee the atrocities include mass killings, rape, torture, murder and enslavement.
Murad Ismael, executive director of the advocacy group Yazda, called on Ottawa to set an annual quota of 5,000 to 10,000 Yazidi refugees.
Because the House is not sitting, the committee could not table a report, but the lack of action angered opposition members of the committee.
Conservative and NDP MPs said they were sending letters to Immigration Minister John McCallum, spelling out what steps can be taken.
McCallum oversaw the recent airlift of 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada that began last November and lasted until the end of February.
A United Nations report in June said ISIL militants and an al-Qaeda splinter group have been systematically rounding up Yazidis since August 2014, attempting to “erase their identity.”
Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Stephane Dion, later declared that a genocide was underway.
The Yazidis are a Kurdish minority group that practices an ancient faith. It’s population is estimated at 400,000.
With CP and CBC files.
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