Proposed Solutions

Partner with Rainbow Railroad through the special humanitarian resettlement stream and/or activate Section 25 of the IRPA to expedite the immediate resettlement of 300 LGBTQI+ Afghans.

1. Expand the special humanitarian program for Afghan refugees to make Rainbow Railroad a direct referring partner for vulnerable LGBTQI+ Afghans.

The Government of Canada has an opportunity to work with civil society to relocate vulnerable groups more expeditiously, by making Rainbow Railroad a direct referring partner. In fact, accessing vulnerable groups via their connection to established civil society partnership networks is something the government is already engaged in. For instance, using the partnership model carved out by the Lamp Lifeboat Ladder project, the government has leaned on the organization’s capacity to identify, relocate, and resettle particularly vulnerable refugee women and survivors of torture, and enacted public policies which are allowing them to safely relocate 500 refugees to Canada.18

We know such a model can be practically applied in Afghanistan because the special humanitarian program for GARs is already operating exclusively through trusted international and Canadian direct referring partners.19 While Rainbow Railroad consulted in the development of this stream, and was an observer for the announcement, our concerns were that we would not be able to access this stream as these organizations would be managing their own direct requests. This has turned out to be the case. Currently, the only partners are the UNHCR, Front Line Defenders, and ProtectDefenders. The latter two programs focus only on human rights defenders, which means the government relies solely on the UNHCR to refer all other vulnerable groups for resettlement, including women leaders, journalists, persecuted religious minorities, family members of previously resettled interpreters, and LGBTQI+ individuals.20 We commend the government for identifying alternate referral organizations, but we urge Canada to expand this approach to reach the other named vulnerable groups.21 Canada must partner with other organizations on the ground in Afghanistan to ensure that individuals who otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for its special programs can be identified and processed.22

We know that there are unique barriers preventing or significantly delaying LGBTQI+ refugees from accessing and availing themselves of UNHCR programs. First, when individuals flee across borders to neighbouring countries, refugee camps that provide basic necessities to displaced persons—like those run by UNHCR—are often especially dangerous places for LGBTQI+ people.23 Consequently, many LGBTQI+ displaced persons avoid or flee refugee camps, instead opting to seek refuge in urban centres where they risk arrest, assault, and exploitation. State and civil society organizations that support refugees in these countries may be unresponsive or hostile to LGBTQI+ refugees, and accurate information about available LGBTQI+-positive supports is scarce and difficult to access.24 Second, the most recent cohort of refugees to escape Afghanistan did so after the August 2021 crisis, and many face extreme risk. They are in precarious situations, hiding where they can in safe houses or on the streets and because they face imminent danger, must stay in place—they cannot wait on the RRAP process. Third, LGBTQI+ Afghans are uniquely at risk while awaiting resettlement in countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and the UAE, where state-sponsored and community-level homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia is commonplace, and where same-sex intimacy is legally punishable by death. The government must recognize that just as human rights defenders need special streamlined pathways to resettlement due to the particular and extreme dangers they face, the same is needed for LGBTQI+ Afghans.

2. Create a public policy under Section 25 of the IRPA25 to allow immediate relocation of the most vulnerable LGBTQI+ Afghans.

Under Section 25.1 of the IRPA, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may examine the unique circumstances of a foreign national and decide to grant them “permanent resident status or an exemption from any applicable criteria or obligations of this Act if the Minister is of the opinion that it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations.”26 Section 25.2 serves a similar function, allowing the Minister to make exceptions if they believe “it is justified by public policy considerations.”27

While we acknowledge the use of Section 25 is only applicable under unique circumstances, Rainbow Railroad believes that the specific vulnerability of LGBTQI+ Afghans—particularly those currently hiding in Afghanistan and who will not or cannot travel without passage to a safer third country secured, as well as those who have recently fled to neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and the UAE—meet this criteria.

There is ample precedent for the creation of a public policy to support highly vulnerable populations under special circumstances, as seen in the creation of a special Canadian program to resettle members of the Yazidi community who faced human rights abuses at the hands of Daesh.28

Rainbow Railroad is uniquely capable of working with the government to facilitate a successful resettlement strategy under Section 25. Three hundred persons have already been identified for referral to the Government of Canada for immediate resettlement by way of a public policy under Section 25. 47 of these 300 people are currently in safe houses in Pakistan or the UAE and ready to be resettled. For the rest, Rainbow Railroad is ready to facilitate travel into a neighbouring country and shelter people in secure safe houses where needed while they await processing by the Canadian government.

Rainbow Railroad’s unique ability to facilitate evacuations

Interventions of this nature require direct facilitation on the ground, and we have been successfully doing this from the beginning. Rainbow Railroad began working on the ground in Afghanistan immediately after the Taliban takeover last year. We are among the few non-profit organizations that facilitate international evacuations, and the only one with an LGBTQI+-specific mandate. Rainbow Railroad is sufficiently resourced and experienced to work in crisis situations, such that when this crisis hit, we were able to evacuate people on some of the first flights to depart to neighbouring Pakistan. Since August 2021, Rainbow Railroad has collaborated directly with governments in Ireland and the U.K. to facilitate the safe and legal passage of LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees with the most urgent protection needs. In short, Rainbow Railroad is ready to partner with the Government of Canada to facilitate and co-ordinate the evacuation of at-risk Afghans.