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House Hansard - 174

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 28, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 174 - Mar/28/23
Mr. Rick Perkins (South Shore—St. Margarets, CPC)
  • Mar/28/23 1:06:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from 72 Canadians with regard to the holding of a Canadian in prison in China. Petitioners say that, although Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig have recently been released after a thousand days of unjust detention in China, there are at least 115 Canadians still being detained in China, including Huseyin Celil, who has been detained for over 5,000 days. Huseyin is a Canadian Uighur human rights advocate who was detained in China for supporting political and religious rights of Uighurs. He is a Canadian citizen who escaped China to Uzbekistan after being unjustly jailed for 48 days in 2001. On recognition from the United Nations as a refugee, he immigrated to Canada, obtained Canadian citizenship and gave up his Chinese citizenship. The Chinese government has refused to accept his Canadian citizenship and has denied him access to lawyers, family and Canadian officials. Petitioners demand the Chinese government recognize Huseyin's Canadian citizenship and provide him with consular and legal services according to international law, that the Canadian government formally state that the release of Huseyin from Chinese detainment and his return to Canada is a priority for the government of equal concern to the unjust detentions of the two Michaels, that it appoint a special envoy to work on securing his release, and that it seek assistance from the Biden administration and other allies around the world in obtaining his release.
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Context: House Hansard - 174 - Mar/28/23
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • Mar/28/23 3:12:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has a proud tradition of resettling some of the world's most vulnerable people. Of course we, through the pandemic, resettled more refugees than any other country in the world. We know that when people come here, having the desire to travel and to see loved ones in other parts of the world is a priority for them. Over the course of the past year and a half, we have made significant investments to add staff to our department. We have adopted new technologies and relaxed administrative burdens to speed up processing times so people can be more quickly reunited with their loved ones. I would be pleased to continue my work to expedite processing times, including for refugee travel documents, so more people can connect with those they care about most more quickly.
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