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Refugees fleeing to Canada

Immigration Minister John McCallum says the Liberal government is prepared to start bringing Yazidi refugees into the country within four months.

He says the Liberals will support a Conservative motion calling for more support for the Yazidis, who have been singled out for particularly brutal treatment by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

McCallum says his department has dispatched people to the region to begin the immigration process, although he hasn't committed to a set number of Yazidi refugees.

He says, though, that they are a priority for the government.

One problem has been that the Yazidis have been mainly caught up in isolated combat zones, far from the refugee camps in Syria and Turkey which allow far easier access to officials seeking to screen and process newcomers.

The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority who used to dwell mainly in northern Iraq.

They have been targeted by ISIL militants, who have used rape, torture and mass murder against them.

The Conservative motion describes them as victims of genocide and sex slavery and calls on the government to do all it can to aid Yazidi women and girls.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel said it's obvious what should happen. 

"In this case it is easy to make priorities," she said. "We should be bringing Yazidi women here."



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