Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. As you know, we are continuing our study on the human rights situation of the Yazidis, Christians, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and Iraq.
I'm very pleased to welcome before the committee today Mirza Ismail. He is the chairman of the Yezidi Human Rights Organization-International, a Canadian-based non-profit advocacy organization founded in 2009. Its mandate is to advocate for the protection of human rights, to maintain international awareness of the plight of the Yazidi people, and to draw awareness to human rights violations against Yazidis and other groups. The organization has pressed the governments of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom to take an active role in protecting Yazidis who are trapped or enslaved in Syria and Iraq; and the organization has been instrumental in bringing international awareness to the plight of the Yazidi people.
Mr. Ismail, we're honoured to have you join us today. I'm going to ask you to give us 10 minutes' worth of remarks, at which time we're going to open up the floor to questions from the committee members. Please proceed with your remarks at this time.