Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak on the continued suffering of Afghans since the Taliban took over. I have spoken numerous times in the past about the erasure of women from society, the gnawing hunger taking innocent lives and the complete disregard for basic human rights.

I have also shared with you my memories of Afghanistan, a beautiful country filled with music, art and laughter. Kabul was once our favourite holiday destination.

Recently, when we thought things could not get any worse, we heard of babies dying from preventable diseases across the country. According to UNICEF, at least 167 Afghan babies die on a daily basis from illnesses that could be and should be cured with the right medication. Afghan hospitals are understaffed and overrun, with rooms filled with sick children, often two to a bed, and only two nurses to care for 60 children.

Colleagues, we are witnessing the complete collapse of Afghanistan’s health care, which has relied on foreign funds and is facing dwindling funds since the Taliban banned women from working in NGOs. Health care workers must use what they have on hand, which is very little. Nurses are often working 24-hour shifts and cannot attend to sick babies in critical condition. Some children are dying from a simple lack of oxygen, since the hospital only has power at night and doesn’t have enough supplies of raw materials to produce oxygen on-site.

Some cannot make it to the hospital in time because of the road conditions. Others cannot make the journey. In some cases, parents prefer to take their dying children home as the hospital cannot help them. They prefer to die with their loved ones.

Families are struggling to eat, and one father, watching his daughter struggle to breathe, explained that he cannot even afford to buy a single cup of tea. If it weren’t for a lack of funds, his child would not have had to suffer that way.

Honourable senators, Afghan hospitals are no longer places of care and healing. They are now a place to die. Thank you.

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan introduced Bill S-263, An Act respecting the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking.

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan, pursuant to notice of April 26, 2023, moved:

That, pursuant to rule 12-24(1), the Senate request a complete and detailed response from the Government to the fourth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, entitled Human Rights of Federally-Sentenced Persons, tabled in the Senate on June 16, 2021 and adopted on June 23, 2021, during the Second Session of the Forty‑third Parliament, with the Minister of Public Safety being identified as minister responsible for responding to the report, in consultation with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Minister of Indigenous Services, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, as well as the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.