I call this meeting to order.
Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, welcome to the 67th meeting of the subcommittee on international human rights.
Today we have the privilege and opportunity to engage with Biram Dah Abeid, a leader in the anti-slavery movement. He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2017, and received the UN human rights prize in 2013. He has appeared before the EU Parliament, and has been honoured by then secretary of state John Kerry.
As foreign and abhorrent as this concept seems to us in Canada, his grandparents and many of his siblings and family were enslaved. Mr. Abeid belongs to the Haratin ethnic group, half of whom are in de facto slavery in Mauritania. In 2008 Mr. Abeid founded the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement to raise awareness about modern slavery, particularly among existing slaves, who are often unaware of their rights. Today's meeting is to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from Mr. Abeid while he is in Canada, along with Madam Ba, of course.
Mr. Abeid, I invite you to make your opening remarks. Please take as long as you need. Then we will proceed with questions from the members of this subcommittee on international human rights. Thank you very much.
Please proceed, sir.