Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on March 9th, 2026

[Christopher Nkambwe]

Thank you so much for focusing on the LGBTQ refugees in the camps, but we also have those LGBTQ refugees who do inland claims and don't go through Kakuma and Nairobi. There are also those who come in while living an HIV-positive life, and the situation is not good, the reason being that the process of getting the documentation required by Canada takes six to eight months, and you do not get services, especially health services, when you don't have a health card and when you don't have a refugee document, which we call a brown paper. This situation is really affecting people coming in with HIV.

We have partnered with Sherbourne Health in downtown Toronto. When these people come in and are living an HIV-positive life, we immediately refer them to family doctors where they can openly come out to speak to them about their life and can start medication as soon as possible. That is why I came through, and we should also recognize the national organizations providing a welcoming environment to these individuals.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

You mentioned that shortly after you came to Canada, you established your centre. You do not just let them go once the paperwork is done, but also follow up after to ensure safety, security and health services.

[Christopher Nkambwe]

Exactly. That's why I said that we offer wraparound support services, especially to trans people. When they come in, we do not refer them to male shelters, but we look for the organizations that are really friendly to LGBTQ organizations and have shelters. That is where we refer our people.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

You mentioned extortion and the betrayal of community. How has that impacted you? It is a betrayal when your family turns their back on you. Love should be unconditional. Could you talk to us a little about that?

[Christopher Nkambwe]

I arrived in Canada in 2019, when the raid of the gay bar happened. We heard lots of calls for support. People needed this and that. I saw it as very important to send $15 dollars that I earned—a small token of money—so that we could save our members.

As an individual, I was about to be imprisoned for the rest of my life, just for offering health services to the community. I know what it takes for somebody to go to prison. First and foremost, there are no facilities that support these individuals when they are in prison. We cannot let our members go to prison, yet we can really support these individuals.

Thank you so much.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Kabuye, you spoke about mob mentality when, at first, communities were against the LGBTQ community, the queer community, and then legislation was passed. Can you talk to us about why it seems to have gone even more backwards?

[Steven Kabuye]

First of all, after the repealing of the 2014 “kill the gays” law, the community—at least this sect—went back a bit. They had no legal support to commit their atrocities. Then came the right-wing religious groups in Uganda that sponsored the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 with all of this money poured into different organizations and groups, including religious groups, political groups and other individual groups. They were ready to do anything they could, but they had no support. With the law coming into place, they had something to use as an excuse.

I was a victim of online harassment. For a full year, I was out there, telling the public I was getting death threats, and no one gave a damn. I reported to the police that I was receiving death threats. They never give a damn there.

Even after my stabbing—I was in the hospital immediately after surgery, having just gotten a knife out of my stomach—the hospital was raided and they wanted to take me in, first of all, for the promotion of homosexuality, and second, for treason. They were saying my work as an activist was a betrayal of the country. These groups were online. After the news broke out online about my stabbing, these groups of people, these politicians and individual people, were online praising the people who wanted to end my life.

The government and the spokesperson of the Kampala Metropolitan Police, Mr. Onyango, sat on TV without shame and said, while I was in the hospital fighting for my life, that I had stabbed myself. Without shame, he said I had stabbed myself. I was just lucky to get out of that country three days later, before they could finally end my life.

Just know that back in Uganda, the situation for 2SLGBTQIA people is worse than we talk about here.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

I would like to invite Mr. Davies to take the floor for five minutes.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I don't really know where to begin. I want to thank you all so sincerely. I know all of us here are horrified by the experiences you've been through and are grateful that you've found a level of freedom in Canada to be yourself. I can't imagine the pain and hardship of being in a country that has such an institutionalized, integrated level of discrimination at all levels, from education to policing, security, law and basic health care.

Mr. Kabuye, you probably would have died in that hospital had you been there much longer. I want to express my appreciation for your courage, what you have done and what you've come through, and I'm glad you're here in Canada.

It seems to me that the three biggest issues are the AHA itself, the repression of activists across the board and the institutionalized and social violence. We've heard a lot of suggestions about what Canada and the international community can do in response to this, but I want to try to take a bit of a different tack.

Mr. Backé, you mentioned earlier non-traditional pathways. The biggest current human rights.... The AHA, the violence and the discrimination have actually had an economic impact on Uganda. Estimates suggest there's $470 million to $1.6 billion in lost economic activity due to sanctions, tourism decline and a reduction in investment. I'm wondering if we can think in a different dimension in terms of the economic scale, from a world perspective. What can we do? What can the world do on an economic basis? This may get to your comment, Mr. Backé, about non-traditional pathways. What can we do, what partnerships can we forge and what can the international community do on an economic basis to try to initiate some change and bring pressure on the Ugandan government to make changes? It doesn't seem to me that, at the electoral level, that's ever going to change. It has to change on an economic basis, in my opinion.

Can you elaborate on that for me, Mr. Backé?

[Horst Backé]

I agree with you that we do need to leverage some economic clout around this, working with other partners in the G7 and the Commonwealth to put pressure on Uganda. Specifically, the only thing I was focused on was trying to make health care more accessible for everyone. However, I think it could be broadened beyond that as well, working with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Again, that's a focus on health care, but there might be other ways.

I'm not sure what other options there are. I'm not an international relations expert.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Well, I was thinking about...even through the UN and through other multinational organizations and NGOs. There are also sanctions that could be placed on people in power in Uganda.

Mr. Kabuye, do you have something to say on this?

[Steven Kabuye]

I want to say that sanctions on the state are kind of like.... I do not support them, because they affect the LGBTQI+ community too. More sanctions on health and on other institutions also affect us.

However, I support sanctions based on individuals. After the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the Biden administration in the U.S. made a move on sanctioning individuals. It was working, until the Trump administration came in and squashed the sanctions.

I call upon the Canadian government. This can work, because after the sanctions we saw them backing down a little bit on the rhetoric they were spreading against the community. With the United States adding in its immigration policy, I think these individuals have now turned to Canada. They come here for vacations. Their families are here. These are people who call for the death of LGBTQI+ individuals, which means their families are also very conversant on this. We cannot allow them to have freedom in the LGBTQI+ Eden. They cannot be here in a world where we freely live and also enjoy it.

I call for individual sanctions. We have members like the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among. During previous electoral campaigns, every time she had an opportunity to speak, she used homophobia as a move to call for votes.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

I understand that. What I really want to focus on is that we have to initiate some actions against those who are imposing the discrimination on the LGBTQ community. If we can't find a pathway to undermining the Ugandan authorities.... Those are the people who are in charge right now. Nobody wants to do anything that would have a negative impact on the community across the board. The last thing you want is—

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Excuse me. Please wrap it up. You've exceeded the time by almost two minutes.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

You said that the United States had initiated some sanctions that have been removed. Has the Canadian government placed any sanctions on authorities in Uganda?

[Steven Kabuye]

No.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

It hasn't at all.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

I'm sorry. You may give your answer later, because we're two minutes over the time.

It's now over to Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe for five minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a question for the Human Rights Watch representative, Mr. Nyeko.

A lot of countries have drastically cut their funding for international development assistance. Of course, USAID, the American aid agency, comes to mind, but many European countries have also made cuts. Canada, too, has significantly reduced its funding for international development assistance. Part of that money is often earmarked for human rights organizations.

This question may seem like it's coming from left field, as they say, but how significantly will international human rights organizations be impacted by the drastic cuts to international aid by wealthy countries?

Could you then tell us how that ties in with the issue we're discussing today?

[Oryem Nyeko]

I'm not sure I understand the question that's being posed to me.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Okay. Do you have the interpretation?

[Oryem Nyeko]

I do.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

As I understand it, you are part of Human Rights Watch. I am seeing wealthy countries slash their international development assistance budgets. In many cases, that money helps to fund human rights organizations.

What I'd like to know, then, is whether you're seeing the effects of that on the ground. Do you see a potential risk or serious consequences for human rights organizations because of those cuts to international aid?

Is that any clearer?

[Oryem Nyeko]

Yes, I think so. If I understand you correctly, you're asking me if groups on the ground are facing more challenges now with the reduction in funding to rights groups globally. Is that correct?