Parliamentary Committee Notes: Facilitation letters
Key messages
To facilitate the evacuation of vulnerable Afghans in August 2021, the Government of Canada sent letters directly to Afghan nationals who were eligible to come to Canada to help them clear checkpoints on the way to and at the airport in Kabul. The usage of facilitation letters was discontinued once the air bridge had closed.
IRCC facilitation letters were only issued from official Government of Canada email addresses and were sent directly to clients. IRCC did not authorize any third party to issue facilitation letters on its behalf.
When IRCC became aware of the potential use of inauthentic facilitation letters, the Department undertook an internal review and determined that no IRCC employee issued or authorized a third party to issue these inauthentic letters. In accordance with the Department's protocols and authorities, IRCC made a referral to the appropriate law enforcement partners.
IRCC's internal review confirms that timely program integrity verifications were conducted, and the department took the appropriate actions to safeguard the integrity of the immigration system and to refer issues beyond its authorities to appropriate law enforcement partners.
Supplementary messages
The IRCC facilitation letters did not confer status on their recipients, and could not be used to enter Canada or board a flight bound for Canada.
Background
During the evacuation, there were reports of individuals being stopped and questioned at Taliban checkpoints that had been set up throughout Kabul and at multiple points in the vicinity of Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). There were also reports of intimidation and harassment by the Taliban at these checkpoints.
Facilitation letters were issued by IRCC directly to applicants who met the following criteria:
- eligible under the Special Immigration Measures program under the public policy;
- no admissibility concerns had been identified; or
- had an approved Temporary Resident Permit.
The facilitation letters were solely intended for use within Afghanistan in order to assist applicants to navigate Taliban checkpoints, to travel to the Kabul airport and the staging area near the airport during the evacuation period.
The letters were issued during the period when evacuation flights were operating out of the Kabul airport or the period when the "air bridge" was in effect. The "air bridge" opened on August 20, 2021, and closed on August 30, 2021, when the last evacuation flight operated by the United States left the Kabul airport.
Authentic facilitation letters stated that individuals were "Canadian citizens" or held "visas". This language was used given the extreme circumstances. The letters did not confer status or rights and were not valid for travel to Canada. They could not be used to enter Canada or board a flight to Canada. This was explained to IRCC clients receiving authentic facilitation letters.
While a few inauthentically-issued letters have been encountered, none appear to have been used successfully to come to Canada. IRCC also issued alerts to its offices when the letters were encountered.
Following protocol, IRCC referred the matter to law enforcement partners. We understand that the RCMP has since determined that they will not pursue a criminal investigation.
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