MEMORANDUM TO:
The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and staff; the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and staff; the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development, and staff; and the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, and staff.
Rainbow Railroad is an international NGO with headquarters in Toronto and an office in New York that supports at-risk LGBTQI+ persons escape state-sponsored violence and persecution. Rainbow Railroad is recognized as a global leader in LGBTQI+ refugee protection with over 15 years of experience successfully triaging and referring vulnerable refugee cases to resettlement countries in Europe and North America. In the spirit of and in homage to the Underground Railroad, the mission of Rainbow Railroad is to help LGBTQI+ people as they seek safe haven from state-directed violence, murder, or persecution. Rainbow Railroad receives roughly 4,000 requests annually from people in the nearly 70 countries where their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or sex characteristics are criminalized. Since our founding in 2006, Rainbow Railroad has helped more than 1,800 people relocate from 38 countries. These individuals have settled in 11 countries, including Canada, that provide safe harbour for LGBTQI+ asylum-seekers.
In this memorandum, we draw on our extensive work in Afghanistan since the end of August to provide a briefing on the security emergency facing the country’s LGBTQI+ population, outline why this emergency requires immediate intervention, and provide a pathway forward.
Following the withdrawal of Allied forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, the country underwent a major regime change as the Taliban seized control of key state institutions.1 Civilians fear for their basic safety as the Taliban has arbitrarily arrested, attacked, tortured, and killed vulnerable Afghans.2 LGBTQI+ Afghans report being threatened, attacked, and sexually assaulted by the Taliban, as well as experiencing abuse from family members, neighbours, and romantic partners who believed they had to take action against them to ensure their own safety.3
On August 13, 2021, the Canadian government committed to creating 20,000 resettlement slots for “vulnerable Afghans threatened by the Taliban and forced to flee Afghanistan.”4 The announcement explicitly named LGBTQI+ persons.5 As the only organization in the world providing this support for LGBTQI+ persons on a regular basis, and as a Canadian organization, we received an immediate spike in requests for assistance and inquiries about this program since the announcement — we have been managing these requests and expectations since then. This is a crucial reason why we are requesting a closer partnership with the government, to help meet the increased demand triggered by the government’s public commitments. On September 27, 2021, the number of settlement slots was doubled to 40,000.6
On December 16, 2021, the Prime Minister’s mandate letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs drew specific attention to the need to “expand Canada’s efforts to advance gender equality and LGBTQ2 rights abroad,” and further highlights Canada’s role in upholding global SOGIESC rights through the government’s commitments in Afghanistan.7 Additionally, the Prime Minister’s letter to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship makes clear that facilitating the urgent resettlement of “at least 40,000” vulnerable refugees—including LGBTQI+ people—is a priority for the Canadian government.8 The Mandate letter to the Minister of International Development also emphasizes advancing global LGBTQI+ rights through partnership with civil society, as well as continuing Canada’s humanitarian efforts for Afghans.9
Our proposal presents the Government of Canada with the opportunity to work with an international civil society organization that advances gender equality and the rights of LGBTQI+ people globally in an effort to facilitate the relocation of 40,000 vulnerable Afghan refugees.
We ask the government to 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 triaged, high-risk LGBTQI+ Afghans.
Currently, the government is fulfilling its resettlement commitment through two special immigration programs: one for Afghans who contributed to Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan and another for vulnerable Afghans, including women leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, persecuted religious minorities, LGBTQI+ individuals, and family members of previously resettled interpreters.10
As of February 1, 2022, 2,920 Afghans have arrived in Canada under the special program for vulnerable groups.11 The delays in the full implementation of Canada’s special resettlement program for vulnerable Afghans is particularly dire for LGBTQI+ persons, who continue to face a high risk of violence and death by state and non-state actors both in-country and in neighbouring countries. LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees supported by Rainbow Railroad in countries bordering Afghanistan are frequently confined to safe houses and are unable to move freely due to basic risks to their safety in displacement. Local integration is thus not a viable or durable solution for most LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees in the region; urgent resettlement remains the only practical solution for these individuals. We urge the Government of Canada to take additional measures to avoid loss of life and further egregious human rights abuses.
Rainbow Railroad is in direct communication with hundreds of individuals in Afghanistan living in constant fear for their lives. LGBTQI+ Afghan asylum-seekers both in-country and in neighbouring states experience state-sponsored homophobic, biphobic and transphobic violence, as well as unique threats under the Taliban and at the hands of other militia groups. These individuals encounter insurmountable barriers to fleeing, and are unable to access typical UNHCR programs.
LGBTQI+ Afghans face extreme persecution and neighbouring countries in the region do not offer safe refuge. Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iran enforce laws prohibiting various forms of LGBTQI+ identity, association, and expression, and there are frequent reports of state-sponsored and vigilante violence against LGBTQI+ persons in each of them.12 LGBTQI+ Afghans in these countries face continued threats to their safety and risk of refoulement. Beyond legal persecution, community reception of LGBTQI+ Afghans is often violent. For example, the U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report on Pakistan noted that violence and discrimination persists against LGBTQI+ people with impunity, as police generally refuse to take action.13 Added to this, many of those who escaped to nearby countries are on expired or short-term visas or arrived without visas, have no realistic prospect of extending their stays legally, and cannot settle permanently where they are.14
Rainbow Railroad has conducted in-depth interviews with LGBTQI+ Afghans living underground in Pakistan in which interviewees described living in constant fear of being returned to Afghanistan and hunted down in Kabul. Some noted that they were outed in the process of fleeing, either to their families or directly to the Taliban, and that they feared if they are sent back to their home country, they will be tortured or killed on arrival. Many informants also noted that LGBTQI+ people face multi-level threats under Taliban rule due to their additional status as human rights defenders, or because of their alignment with U.S.-based or supported organizations.
Rainbow Railroad possesses ample documentation of LGBTQI+ persons who have been violently attacked and targeted by the Taliban. Testimonies from LGBTQI+ Afghans include reports of widespread LGBTQI+-directed sexual violence by state authorities, family-facilitated murders of LGBTQI+ persons, and “kill lists” of LGBTI+ persons circulating among armed groups.15 The following quotations come directly from LGBTQI+ Afghans, and demonstrate the direness of the security emergency:
“Under the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia law, homosexuality is strictly prohibited, and the Taliban has explicitly announced their intention to actively seek and exterminate members of the LGBTQ community. Gay people like me are sentenced to death by such methods as stoning or being buried alive under rubble. In the past month, Taliban forces have dismembered and shot dead people they discovered to be gay.”
“My friend called to inform me that the government surrendered to the Taliban. When the Taliban came, target killing started suddenly. My friend got killed, because the Taliban knew he was LGBT. They also knew I was a friend of his. I [escaped] to my grandfather’s house with my boyfriend and stayed there for 20 days. One day I was in the house, someone knocked on the door and I realized it was Taliban, and we both ran away from the house from the rooftop. The Taliban started firing at us.”
“When I moved to Mazar, I met a guy as well. He seemed like a nice person, we had sex twice and got into a relationship. After the Taliban took over, he joined them. He then contacted me. He sent me pictures of him with Taliban and said, ‘You’re gay.’ I was so scared I said, ‘No I am not gay.’”
Many Afghan nationals who have fled to neighbouring countries cannot wait for the RRAP’s private sponsorship process, even if the program were expedited under special circumstances. Individuals are at high risk of refoulement; if this took place, these individuals would face execution.
Since August 2021, over 1600 LGBTQI+ Afghans have requested assistance from Rainbow Railroad. Rainbow Railroad works to verify each case individually and assess the level of risk an individual faces. To date, Rainbow Railroad has fully verified over 300 people who are at high risk of experiencing immediate, life-threatening violence due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and who need to be resettled.
Rainbow Railroad has already undertaken significant engagement in Afghanistan due to the extreme and widespread nature of the threats facing LGBTQI+ people in the country. We have visited the country multiple times and have established a civil society network. To date:
• We worked directly with the U.K. government to evacuate 45 people from Afghanistan into the U.K. via Pakistan16 (the evacuation of another 30-plus people is anticipated in the coming months);
• We worked with local human rights defenders as well as global organizations to resettle 17 LGBTQI+ Afghans in Ireland in September 2021.
In collaboration with several European governments, Rainbow Railroad has facilitated the safe and legal passage of a number of at-risk LGBTQI+ people out of Afghanistan since August 2021. Of these, 62 persons have arrived in the U.K.17 and Ireland under various humanitarian admission schemes, while the rest remain in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Iran, and the UAE with uncertain prospects for resettlement in a third country.
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.
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.
Prioritizing expedited resettlement of LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program (PSR) under the RRAP remains essential to serving the varied profiles of at-risk persons in the context of this crisis. This section outlines why both a commitment to additional targeted resettlement policies and increased and expedited RRAP resettlement is the best path forward.
Even within the private sponsorship route, there are opportunities for the government to maximize its refugee resettlement capacity. On November 1, 2021, Rainbow Railroad submitted an open letter to the Office of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We want to reiterate one of the key calls to action outlined in that letter—namely, that the crisis in Afghanistan be considered a prima facie refugee situation and that Canada must waive the requirement of UNHCR recognition for private sponsorship.29 This approach reflects the reality that Afghans make up one of the largest refugee populations in the world, with 2.2 million people registered in Iran and Pakistan alone.30 UNHCR has already called attention to the desperate need for support of Afghan refugees, acknowledging “the resilience of refugees, internally displaced people and host communities is slowly reaching its limit.”31
While we fully support the government’s move to expedite and increase PSR spots as an option for resettlement, Rainbow Railroad strongly believes that additional, expedited slots under the RRAP will benefit only a certain demographic of Afghan refugees at risk. Therefore additional, more immediate public policy solutions are necessary to meet the varied needs of our beneficiaries. Further, there is limited capacity for the coalition to cover the needs for all persons at risk.
Due to the protection concerns and persecution in Afghanistan long before this most recent crisis, many individuals who qualify for PSR under the RRAP fled the country prior to its fall to the Taliban last year. However, it remains that those most critically affected by the current crisis have severe and time-sensitive needs that require immediate action and processing either in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the UAE, or Iran.
Demographics of LGBTQI+ persons who will benefit from the RRAP program include:
• Individuals who have the means to shelter in place in neighbouring countries for a longer period with lower risk of detection of being LGBTQI+;
• Individuals who fled Afghanistan in advance of the most recent crisis;
• Individuals who are able to collaborate with coalition partners on detailed PSR application packages;
• Individuals whose sexuality was not disclosed in Afghanistan, or who have not been tracked or located by the Taliban or hostile community members in their new location.
Demographics of LGBTQI+ persons who need protection outside of the RRAP program include:
• Individuals whose identities have been disclosed to the Taliban;
• Individuals who fled Afghanistan to countries that criminalize same-sex intimacy with limited visa status and who are at risk of refoulement;
• Trans, non-binary, and other visibly LGBTQI+ individuals who could be easily identified and persecuted in Afghanistan or neighbouring countries;
• Individuals with complex medical or mental health concerns that limit their ability to safely flee and access the refugee apparatus.
The PSR program, even where highly expedited by IRCC, requires months of organizational investment from coalition members in order to recruit volunteers, prepare application paperwork, fundraise, prepare arrival logistics, and provide supportive communication with the applicant. Some Afghans already within the refugee apparatus can survive the wait for this mediumterm solution; this is the best pathway to safety for these individuals, and LGBTQI+ civil society in Canada is ready to support them through existing streams. However, for the majority of individuals who have reached out to Rainbow Railroad since the most recent Taliban insurgency, awaiting the limited program offerings under PSR would be a death sentence.
Rainbow Railroad calls on the Government of Canada to create additional targeted and expedited resettlement pathways for high-risk LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees.
We propose two existing Canadian policy mechanisms the government could activate to make this happen:
1. Expand the special humanitarian program for Afghan refugees to make Rainbow Railroad a direct referring partner for vulnerable LGBTQI+ Afghans.
2. Create a public policy under Section 25 of the IRPA32 to allow immediate relocation of the most vulnerable LGBTQI+ Afghans.
Under either of these mechanisms, individuals would arrive as GARs and Rainbow Railroad would work directly with IRCC and settlement partners across the country to help them build prosperous, free lives in Canada.
Importantly, we want to reaffirm our support for the government’s decision to expand the RRAP stream by way of additional, expedited slots to resettle LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries. Enhancing the current RRAP program in the region will offer vital support for Afghan refugees who have some capacity to endure in their current circumstances and ensure they are not left behind.
Rainbow Railroad’s proposal is complementary to the RRAP. Along with the Rainbow Coalition for Refuge, we commit to submitting RRAP applications under the PSR program. However, given the distinct differences in beneficiary profiles that the proposed program and RRAP serve, we contend that it is Canada’s duty to activate both channels expeditiously.
The individuals Rainbow Railroad has identified as having the most urgent protection needs simply cannot wait. We understand that it will take years to adequately resettle refugees, however we also understand that Canada has the ability—especially with Rainbow Railroad’s support—to settle LGBTQI+ individuals as GARs as rapidly as possible. Partnering with Rainbow Railroad to identify and relocate vulnerable LGBTQI+ refugees will be instrumental to fulfilling Canada’s promise to resettle 40,000 people.
Rainbow Railroad remains committed to working with the government to determine the best path forward. Although we have made a specific proposal in this memorandum, we remain open to discussing alternative means of finding safety for these people by whatever means necessary.
1 https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan
2 https://wrmcouncil.org/publications/event-report-displacement-in-afghanistan/
3 https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/01/26/even-if-you-go-skies-well-find-you/lgbt-people-afghanistan-after-taliban-takeover
4 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2021/08/canada-expands-resettlement-program-to-bring-more-afghansto-safety.html
5 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2021/08/canada-expands-resettlement-program-to-bring-more-afghansto-safety.html
6 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/world/americas/canada-afghanistan-refugees.html.
7 Ibid.
8 https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters/2021/12/16/minister-immigration-refugees-and-citizenship-mandate-letter
9 https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters/2021/12/16/minister-international-development-and-minister-responsible-pacific
10 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2021/08/canada-expands-resettlement-program-to-bring-more-afghansto-safety.html
11 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/afghanistan/key-figures.html
12 https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/08/another-transgender-woman-killed-pakistan; https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/countrychapters/pakistan#e81181; https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/05/iran-murder-of-gay-man-highlights-dangers-ofstate-sanctioned-abuses-against-lgbti-people/; https://www.ebar.com/news/news//297452; https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/15/ iran-discrimination-and-violence-against-sexual-minorities.; https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/pakistan/ ; https://www. humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/united-arab emirates/
13 https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/pakistan/
14 https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/01/26/even-if-you-go-skies-well-find-you/lgbt-people-afghanistan-after-taliban-takeover
15 https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20211102-the-taliban-has-a-kill-list-for-the-afghan-lgbt-community-ngo-says; https://edition.cnn. com/2021/09/17/middleeast/afghanistan-lgbtq-evacuation-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
16 https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/the-latest/rainbow-railroad-assists-29-lgbtqi-afghans-to-safety-in-the-u-k
17 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/30/britain-afghan-lgbt-refugees/
18 https://www.lamplifeboatladder.org/our-story/
19 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/afghanistan/special-measures/how-humanitarian-program. html
20 Ibid.
21 https://wrmcouncil.org/news/letter-news/urgent-call-to-action-in-response-to-the-crisis-in-afghanistan/?fbclid=IwAR2A3ZkZXyLifr4gGugGA3 rxVWCOKN8VVoBiBq9F9Ms3omc7DYP5OK3o_z0
22 Ibid.
23 https://www.refworld.org/docid/566140454.html
24 Ibid.
25 https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/section-25.html Section 25(1) of the IRPA affords the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship the power to grant permanent residency on humanitarian or compassionate grounds to a foreign national who is otherwise inadmissible or who does not meet the requirements of the IRPA.
26 https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/CIMM/report-6/page-18
27 https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/section-25.2.html
28 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2021/03/canada-expands-efforts-to-welcome-more-yazidi-refugees-andother-survivors-of-daesh.html
29 https://wrmcouncil.org/news/letter-news/urgent-call-to-action-in-response-to-the-crisis-in-afghanistan/?fbclid=IwAR2A3ZkZXyLifr4gGugGA3 rxVWCOKN8VVoBiBq9F9Ms3omc7DYP5OK3o_z0
30 https://www.unhcr.org/afghanistan.html
31 Ibid.
32 https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/section-25.html Section 25(1) of the IRPA affords the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship the power to grant permanent residency on humanitarian or compassionate grounds to a foreign national who is otherwise inadmissible or who does not meet the requirements of the IRPA.
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