SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 184 - Apr/25/23

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Apr/25/23 10:10:17 a.m.
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The next petition I am presenting deals with the ongoing arbitrary and illegal detention of Huseyin Celil. Mr. Celil is a Canadian citizen who has been detained in China, sadly, for substantially more time than Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor were detained. They were released after an unjust detention of 1,000 days. Mr. Celil, at the time of the writing of this petition, had already been in detention for more than 5,000 days. He is a Canadian citizen, an activist for Uyghur human rights and a father of four sons, the youngest of whom has sadly never met his father because Mr. Celil's wife was pregnant at the time of his detention. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to take the following actions to seek to address the situation: demand that the Chinese government recognize Mr. Celil's Canadian citizenship and provide him with consular and legal services in accordance with international law; formally state that the release of Huseyin Celil from Chinese detainment and his return to Canada are a priority of the Canadian government of equal concern as the unjust detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor; appoint a special envoy to work on securing Mr. Celil's release; and seek the assistance of the Biden administration and other allies around the world in obtaining Mr. Celil's release, as was done in the case of the arbitrary detention of the two Michaels.

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Context: House Hansard - 184 - Apr/25/23

Hon. Mélanie Joly (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.)

Apr/25/23 2:52:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to reassure this House because my colleague mentioned the fact that people stuck in Sudan are not able to get out of Sudan. Canadians right now are being contacted 24-7 because consular services are emergency services. We are there to help them. We have had 550 of them who raised their hands saying they need help; 100 have gotten out of Sudan. We are on this and we will make sure that every Canadian is coming back and is safe.

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Context: House Hansard - 184 - Apr/25/23

Mr. Ryan Turnbull

Apr/25/23 10:54:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think obviously the situational awareness of what is happening on the ground is quite challenging, when we are dealing with a country that is experiencing such hostilities, so I think Canada has to continue to work on a coordinated response through its various partners on the ground. Obviously, communication channels can be challenged, but I know there are quite a few stories I am aware of with people fleeing the country. I have a personal story and relationship with three members of an international development organization that contacted me just a couple of days ago. They were trying to flee the country, so I know of their journey. There are three of them from an organization called Inter Pares that was stuck in Khartoum in a hotel, and they were really looking to get out of Sudan, and they were fearful for their lives. I found the consular services, despite the fact of the changing situation, have been quite good about helping those folks get out of Sudan, so I—

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Context: House Hansard - 184 - Apr/25/23

Mr. Ryan Turnbull

Apr/25/23 10:57:35 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's passion, obviously advocating for his constituents. I know I feel the same about my constituents. What I can say is that my experience working with the minister's office is that they have been quite responsive, including the parliamentary secretary. The consular services for people I have been helping to get out of Sudan have been quite good. In this case, the case that I know about, the individuals had to take a 34-hour bus ride to get to the port of Sudan and are now taking a ferry out, hopefully, sometime this evening to Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea, from where they will hopefully be able to fly home. I would encourage people to use ROCA and make sure they are registered. I know that Global Affairs Canada has been reaching out. It has reached out to over 1,700 people who registered, with 573 who requested assistance. Over 100 people have gotten out so far. Obviously it is an ongoing effort. It is a difficult situation. I feel my colleague's passion and fire for helping his constituents. I appreciate that very much.

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