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

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 13 of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the subcommittee on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the subcommittee is meeting to study the situation of members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community from Uganda.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and the members. Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation: floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel. I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

I would like to welcome our first witnesses.

We have, as individuals, Mr. Steven Kabuye and Meddie Ssentongo; from Amnesty International, Dr. Tigere Chagutah, regional director, east and southern Africa, by video conference; from Human Rights Watch, Oryem Nyeko, senior researcher, by video conference; from Reaching Out Assisting Refugees, Horst Backé, president; and from the African Centre for Refugees in Ontario-Canada, Madame Christopher Nkambwe, executive director.

I would like to welcome all of you and to give every one of you five minutes for introductions.

We start with Mr. Steven Kabuye.

Sir, the floor is yours for five minutes. Please go ahead.

[Steven Kabuye, As an Individual]

Honourable chair and committee members, thank you for inviting me to speak.

My name is Steven Kabuye. I'm a 2SLGBTQI+ human rights activist from Uganda and a board member of Coloured Voices Media Foundation, an NGO dedicated to shifting public attitudes about same-sex love in Africa. I'm here as a survivor of the anti-LGBTQI+ violence in Uganda to share our reality and urge Canada's urgent action.

The situation for LGBTQI+ people in Uganda has become a state-sanctioned nightmare. In 2023, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQI+ laws. The act criminalizes consensual same-sex relations with penalties up to life imprisonment and imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, a term so broadly defined that it can be applied to almost any same-sex relationship.

Amnesty International warned that signing this bill was “a grave assault on human rights”, enshrining “discrimination, hatred and prejudice” into law. When Uganda's Constitutional Court upheld the act in April 2024, Human Rights Watch noted that the court had “come down on the side of hate, violence and discrimination”, rather than protecting fundamental rights. In effect, this law gives a public licence to violence. It invites neighbours, landlords, police and even strangers to harass, beat and extort, or worse, anyone suspected of being gay or transgender.

Life under this law is terror. Landlords can be prosecuted for housing anyone accused of being LGBTQI+, fuelling mass evictions and homelessness. In fact, a previous anti-LGBTQ law in Uganda made it illegal to keep “a house...for purposes of homosexuality”, a provision that Human Rights Watch observed was “used to justify evicting LGBTI tenants.” Medical providers have openly scaled back services for queer people, who are afraid to even ask for care lest they be arrested.

Every day, activists and ordinary people live in fear of arbitrary arrest or violent attack. Human Rights Watch reports that “authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained LGBT people” and “extorted money” from them, and that LGBTQ individuals “faced a range of physical attacks and online harassment”. Simply existing can be deadly. On the street or in your home, vigilantes feel emboldened. The state has effectively weaponized both the police and the public against its own citizens. Survival is now an act of defiance.

I know this first-hand. On the morning of January 3, 2024, I was walking to work when two men on a motorcycle ambushed me. They slashed my arm and then stabbed my stomach, shouting “Die, you homosexual!” as they left me bleeding on the ground. By some miracle, I was alive. I recorded a video of my wounds as proof of our reality in case I did not survive.

Instead of being protected by the police, I was treated like a criminal. While I lay in the hospital, the authorities sought to charge me with treason. My home was raided, and the colleague who rushed me to hospital, Eugene Ntambi, was himself arrested and tortured.

I survived, thanks to God and the swift action of fellow activists. I am deeply grateful to be here safely in Canada today. I owe my life to the unwavering solidarity of fellow human rights defenders, organizations like Rainbow Railroad and the people of Canada, who stood by me at the most dangerous moment.

However, I speak today not only for myself but for the millions of Ugandans who have no microphone, for those who are trapped and still fighting simply to exist.

For those who manage to escape Uganda's borders, the nightmare often continues. Many flee to refugee camps in neighbouring countries—for example, Kakuma in Kenya—only to find that camps are not sanctuaries but alternative prisons. A 2023 Amnesty International report on Kakuma found that LGBTI refugees there “routinely suffer hate crimes, violence, including rape, and other serious human rights abuses” because of who they are. In Kenya, local police and other residents prey on LGBTQI+ asylum seekers with impunity. Even the UNHCR reports that LGBTQI+ claims are stalled. Kenya has effectively become a “choke point,” blocking western resettlement efforts and leaving hundreds “languishing in dangerous refugee camps and safe houses”. Some of my friends fled Kenya to South Sudan in desperation, only to find more chaos and violence there.

Because refugee camps and transit sites are so unsafe, many LGBTQI+ Ugandans end up in hidden safe houses in cities, far from aid. They live in overcrowded basements or rented rooms, completely cut off from UN food or health care. They're in permanent legal limbo. Asylum systems are overwhelmed or blocked. It can take years—or never—to process their papers. Meanwhile, they have no legal status and no livelihood, and they live every day uncertain.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Is it possible to wrap up? Our time is up.

Go ahead.

[Steven Kabuye]

The situation demands immediate action from Canada. We cannot wait while Uganda's queer people are hunted and abandoned. I urge this committee and the Government of Canada to champion three urgent measures: expedite humanitarian visas and resettlement for at-risk LGBTQI+ Ugandans; fund and partner with grassroots LGBTQI+ organizations; leverage Canada's diplomatic weight and global voice. Canada must publicly and repeatedly condemn Uganda's anti-LGBTQI+ crimes and demand accountability.

I demand this committee—

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you. You are almost two minutes over.

Wrap it up in two seconds.

[Steven Kabuye]

All right.

I urge this committee to push for sanctions against politicians in Uganda who scapegoat LGBTQI+ Ugandans and put up statements or pass laws that put 2SLGBTQ+ Ugandans at risk.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

I would like Dr. Tigere Chagutah to take the floor for five minutes.

Dr. Chagutah, the floor is yours, please.

[Tigere Chagutah, Regional Director, East and Southern Africa, Amnesty International]

Thank you, honourable Chair.

Good evening to all members of the subcommittee and fellow witnesses.

My name is Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's regional director in east and southern Africa. I'm joining you today from Johannesburg. I thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this critical study.

Honourable members, Uganda's legal framework criminalizes various aspects of the lives of LGBTQI+ people, perpetuating the institutionalization of stigma, discrimination and violence and emboldening state and non-state actors' attacks on queer people, both online and off-line, with impunity. The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act expanded the range of offences and introduced harsher criminal penalties against LGBTQI+ people, including the death penalty.

A 2024 report by Amnesty International, titled “Everybody here is having two lives or phones”, documents “[t]he devastating impact of criminalization on digital spaces for [queer] people in Uganda”. The report highlights how the threats and presence of various forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence against queer people in a context of criminalization, and the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 in particular, have forced LGBTQI+ individuals and organizations to alter their digital presence and behaviour.

The withdrawal of USAID funding in 2025 was a huge blow to Uganda, which, until then, was receiving around $448 million U.S. in development assistance annually. USAID was the main funder of health and human rights programs, including critical support for key populations and marginalized groups, such as LGBTQI+ people. The funding cuts have weakened NGOs supporting queer people and impacted the supply of condoms and lubricants, which are essential for prevention and care.

I now turn to the human rights violations against Ugandan LGBTQI+ people and refugees living in Kenya and South Sudan.

A report by Amnesty International and Kenya's National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission documented hate crimes, discrimination and systemic protection failures affecting queer Ugandan refugees in Kenya, making them flee to South Sudan, where they faced similar treatment. The inaction by both governments led to impunity for perpetrators and human rights violations for LGBTQI+ refugees, including their rights to physical integrity and freedom from torture and ill-treatment, as well as their right to live without discrimination. In South Sudan, LGBTQI+ refugees are continually denied basic services and forced to live on $10 per month. They've been ordered to leave the country by the authorities as recently as last December.

We at Amnesty International have documented several barriers to resettlement, among them delayed registration, delayed refugee status determination and inadequacies of refugee registration systems. Our research shows that both countries have failed to create a safe environment for self-disclosure for LGBTQI+ people and refugees, which has had a negative knock-on effect throughout the asylum process. Delays in the refugee status determination hold up prospects of resettlement, a durable solution traditionally only available to recognized refugees. Additionally, refugee databases used at registration points in both Kenya and South Sudan recognize only male or female as genders, thus failing to record the gender profile of non-binary LGBTQI+ refugees.

As I conclude, honourable members, Amnesty International believes that Canada can play a significant role in protecting LGBTQI+ refugees and all those who have fled their countries. We are concerned about the growing anti-rights movement across the world, and we urge the Canadian government not to step back on its human rights commitments but to continue voicing support for the protection of human rights, especially for marginalized groups like LGBTQI+ individuals in and from Uganda.

Additionally, we urge you to increase funding and slots under the government-assisted refugees program for resettlement pathways for high-risk LGBTQI+ refugees in Kenya and South Sudan, with particular attention given to refugees from Uganda.

We urge you to increase funding to the LGBTQI+ international assistance program. This program is critical for strengthening LGBTQI+ networks that are fighting to protect the human rights of queer individuals around the world, including those from Uganda.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Could you wrap it up, please? We have exceeded the time.

[Tigere Chagutah]

We urge you to establish, across all Canadian high commissions, a permanent rapid response mechanism for queer people facing emergencies.

Lastly, we urge the Canadian government to use all the leverage it has on the Ugandan, Kenyan and South Sudan governments to protect the rights of LBGTQI+ refugees.

I thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

I now invite Mr. Oryem Nyeko to take the floor for five minutes, please.

[Oryem Nyeko, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch]

Thank you.

My name is Oryem Nyeko. I am a senior researcher within the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. I want to thank you for this opportunity to provide input to this study on the situation of 2SLGBTQ+ people from Uganda.

In May 2025, Human Rights Watch published findings documenting the impact of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which, as we know, remains in force today. We interviewed LGBT people, their family members, representatives of rights organizations, activists, journalists and lawmakers in Uganda. We reviewed the parliamentary records and speeches by government officials and religious leaders, as well as the media reporting in the lead-up to the passage of that law. Our research found that in the two years that preceded the passing of that law, LGBT Ugandans were increasingly vilified by political and government figures, who spread misinformation and incited hatred against them in the media, both traditional and social media, to drum up support for the then proposed law.

It was in this hostile environment that LGBT people experienced, and continue to experience, physical and sexual violence, as well as online harassment. These threats extend to their parents, who, because they've openly supported their children's sexual orientation, have also been subjected to verbal and physical attacks and threats and rejected by their families and communities. They face domestic violence and in some cases even financial challenges.

The Government of Uganda has raided and suspended non-governmental organizations working on LGBT rights and conducted arbitrary arrests and detentions. Police officers have engaged in entrapment and have extorted money from LGBT people in exchange for releasing them from custody. The Ugandan authorities have not held to account anybody responsible for these attacks.

All of this has unfolded under the backdrop of Uganda's deeply repressive human rights situation, where the government regularly and violently cracks down on its critics, political opposition, journalists and protesters. It has imposed sweeping restrictions on freedom of expression. As a result of all this, LGBT people in Uganda, along with their families, their allies and their supporters, continue to face significant risks.

As development partners to Uganda, we are calling on Canada to play a role in protecting these targeted populations, who are at heightened risk, by consistently raising concerns, both publicly and privately, with senior Ugandan officials about the human rights impacts of the Anti-Homosexuality Act and other laws and policies that impact LGBT people, and by continuing to support local organizations through, for example, the Canada fund for local initiatives.

In providing support for local groups, Canada should prioritize intersectional approaches that recognize sexual and gender diversity, support local organizations that address these overlapping forms of discrimination, and provide sustained assistance to LGBT rights groups to enable them to continue to work, given the challenging environment in which they operate.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you. The time was very well respected. I appreciate that.

I would like to invite Mr. Horst Backé to take the floor for five minutes, please.

[Horst Backé, President, Reaching Out Assisting Refugees]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the subcommittee, for the invitation to testify.

The organization I represent, Reaching Out Assisting Refugees, has resettled three Ugandan LGBTQ people. We currently have three people who are also waiting in the process. We're supporting an additional six people and have had to turn down many requests for help.

We are witnessing a state-led campaign of erasure. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, or the AHA, doesn't merely criminalize acts; it criminalizes identities. The AHA has created a permissive environment for the murder and assault of LGBTQ+ children or adult LGBTQ+ children by their parents and families. In fact, most of the people we have helped to support have had that situation, including attempted murder and plans to murder by parents and families. In some cases, family members have killed their child's partner.

The AHA has turned neighbours into informants, landlords into evictors and doctors into potential criminals. Since its passage, we've seen a surge in mob violence, state-sanctioned torture and a mass exodus of LGBTQ Ugandans, who are now trapped in regional limbo in countries like Kenya and South Sudan, from which we get frequent reports of secondary persecution. Other countries in Africa have adopted or are considering adopting legislation like the AHA.

Canada's response has to move beyond concerned observation and denunciation, which happened in 2023. To stop the flow of refugees, we must make the cost of this law unbearable for its architects, while opening immediate, non-traditional paths to safety.

As we know now, Kenya is a choke point for the movement of LGBTQ refugees to safety. Because Kenya is not providing refugee recognition, they're also not providing exit visas, so people are stuck. It's a choke point. Because of that, LGBTQ refugees have moved to South Sudan, an even more dangerous country, due to the experiences of violence in Kakuma, Kenya, and a lack of hope that they will ever experience safety if they stay.

I have four recommendations.

The first is to implement surgical financial sanctions. Generic aid cuts often hurt the very people we're trying to protect. Canada should instead apply targeted sanctions under the Magnitsky act, specifically against the individual MPs who sponsored and supported the bill and the private financiers who funded the hate campaign that preceded it. The goal is to freeze Canadian-held assets and deny visas to these individuals and their immediate families. This should send a clear message that those who promote state-sponsored persecution of queer people will no longer have access to the benefits of western democracy.

The second recommendation relates to the current UNHCR refugee process, which is too slow for a life-and-death crisis. Canada should expand the direct referral partnership with organizations like Rainbow Railroad. This allows us to move individuals without waiting years for a UN referral. We should also leverage the economic mobility pathways pilot to bring skilled LGBTQI Ugandans to Canada as skilled workers, rather than solely as refugees. By treating them as assets to our economy rather than vulnerable victims, we expedite their exit and preserve their dignity.

Third, the Anti-Homosexuality Act is a direct threat to global health. It has made HIV/AIDS treatment nearly impossible for queer people in Uganda to access. We need to ensure that international health funding is contingent upon safe, non-discriminatory access to health care for all citizens. Canada should lead a G7 and Commonwealth coalition to frame the repeal of the AHA as a global health security requirement. We must work with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and with the World Bank. We cannot fund a health system that uses its data to hunt its patients.

I don't have time, at this point, to talk about recommendations to address the Kenya choke point issue, but I do have some ideas.

In conclusion, Canada denounced the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023, but Canada's legacy as a human rights leader is defined not by the statements we issue but by the measures we take to protect the persecuted. This requires courage. We have the legislative and advocacy tools; we now need the political will to use them.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

Now I invite Mr. Meddie Ssentongo to take the floor for five minutes, please.

[Meddie Ssentongo, As an Individual]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members, for giving attention to the LGBTQ+ Ugandan refugees who are facing persecution, discrimination and death simply because of who they are.

In Uganda today, being openly queer is not just socially dangerous but legally punishable. The climate of fear is constant. Individuals are reported to authorities by neighbours. Families reject their own children. Employers terminate jobs. I was 17 years of age when my dad discovered that I was gay. It was a curse in the family, and he threatened to kill me. I had to flee to Kenya to save my life.

Most of us who flee end up in different refugee camps in neighbouring countries like Kenya, the one I went to, and South Sudan, where homosexuality is criminalized. The camps do not protect LGBTQ+ people fleeing homophobic or transphobic violence. Like other LGBTI refugees, I was threatened too many times to count. I was often assaulted, but no complaint was followed up on, even after reporting it to the police. There was never any hope that the police would follow up on any complaints. No one was arrested, even after LGBTQ+ refugees were killed or our shelters were burned.

We experienced food discrimination. We would often be served less food and served last during monthly UN food distribution. We would also be shuffled between food distribution stations, which would result in missing a month of food rations. Despite the lack of food, some queer refugees chose not to line up again, which they had to do. We were frequently attacked and beaten just for lining up for water, which we had to do daily. Queer refugees sought safety by moving into one block, but the result was the opposite of what we hoped for. The UNHCR told us to keep a low profile just to avoid being recognized as queer. My partner and I chose to move to a different block, but the result still wasn't positive. It was still unsafe. Others faced sexual violence. Several women I know had children after being raped.

Most queer refugees are stranded. There are long processing delays. I waited for four years after being registered as an asylum seeker before I was allowed to leave the camp. I was an exception. Almost no one else was able to move to safety. If the UNHCR in Kenya knows you are LGBTQ+, they will not officially recognize you as a refugee. Without a refugee recognition, you will not receive permission to leave the camp. The UNHCR will not allow or follow up on any complaints made by those who are not recognized as refugees.

I had been in Kakuma for three years and had completely lost hope that I would ever get help, especially after seeing other refugees who are not queer being processed by the UNHCR. Nothing changed for me until we met our private sponsors through Mr. Horst Backé, the president of Reaching Out Assisting Refugees. That's when we started feeling hope again, although getting an exit permit was still a problem.

I have friends in Kakuma in Kenya, and in Gorom, which is in South Sudan, who are facing the same challenges I went through, although in South Sudan, exit permits are available. Some people I know have waited for resettlement for over nine years, and they are still waiting. There's no hope.

In South Sudan, refugees are facing delayed documentation, as it is much more risky due to the civil strife going on in South Sudan. Resettlement opportunities are decreasing. Many friends I know who were on the U.S. list were disappointed when their resettlement was cancelled. Canada has also reduced the number of resettlement opportunities for refugees.

I have three recommendations that I would like to point out.

One is to expedite LGBTQ+ Ugandan refugees. Canada should create a temporary settlement program for queer Ugandan refugees, similar to what they did years back for Chechens and Afghans. Canada should also use the economic mobility pathways pilot to help LGBTQ+ Ugandan refugees with professions and also to contribute to Canada.

The second recommendation would be to increase collaboration with Rainbow Railroad to safely identify and refer the most vulnerable individuals. Rainbow Railroad referrals are capped at only 250 people per year throughout the world. This number should be significantly increased.

My third recommendation would be to increase the Rainbow Refugee assistance program and make it permanent. Increase the number of those supported beyond 50.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Now I would like to invite Madame Christopher Nkambwe to take the floor for five minutes, please.

[Christopher Nkambwe, Executive Director, The African Centre for Refugees in Ontario-Canada]

Thank you, Chair and members of the committee, for having me today and for giving me an opportunity to provide testimony as a witness in the study of the situation of 2SLGBTQ+ people from Uganda.

I am Christopher Nkambwe, a Ugandan by nationality. I fled the country in May 2019 and arrived in Canada in June 2019, where I began my journey as a refugee claimant. I am now a permanent resident in Toronto, Canada.

Four months after my arrival in Canada, I established The African Centre for Refugees in Ontario-Canada, where I serve as the executive director. The African Centre for Refugees in Ontario-Canada is a fully registered charity organization that supports vulnerable LGBTIQ+ refugees from the African continent and the Caribbean, providing wraparound support services from the time they enter the country until they are integrated into the Canadian setting. This year marks seven years of doing this work.

Chair, today I sit here before you as someone who was forcibly displaced because of my sexual orientation. Before and after the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, Uganda was and is known to have the cruelest laws in the world against LGBTIQ+ people. The situation is dire for those in Uganda and those outside Uganda in the refugee camps of Kakuma in Nairobi, Kenya, and Gorom in South Sudan. These people really need support.

This situation has further exposed members of the LGBTIQ+ community in Uganda to a vulnerable social and economic life. Many are unemployed because of the discrimination and persecution at workplaces. Many have been forced into exile to seek asylum in other countries, including Canada. Homophobia and transphobia are the order of the day. There have been widespread violations against LGBTIQ+ people in Uganda, mostly emanating from non-state actors, particularly in the communities they live in, and many of these violations remain unreported. The risks faced by LGBTIQ+ people in Uganda include evictions, forced marriages, physical assault, blackmail, legal persecution, discrimination and life imprisonment for the rest of one's life. As I speak now, health service delivery and access for LGBTIQ+ people in Uganda is very difficult after the funding cuts.

Chair, at the African Centre for Refugees in Ontario-Canada, we are concerned about the growing anti-rights movement across the world. We urge the Canadian government not to step back from its human rights commitments, but to continue voicing support for the protection of human rights, especially for the vulnerable groups of people in Uganda.

Enhance funding to the LGBTQ2I international assistance program, which is critical for strengthening LGBTI networks that are fighting to protect the human rights of LGBTI individuals from Uganda and those still living in the country.

In the Canadian high commissions in the East African region, consider establishing a permanent emergency rapid response mechanism for LGBTI people facing sudden anti-LGBTI crackdowns.

Engage with authorities in Kenya and South Sudan to urge them to ensure that LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees fully enjoy their rights to a fair and effective asylum procedure and to be protected from refoulement.

Provide rapid funding for response protection services—case management, emergency medical support, psychosocial first aid, legal aid triage and survivor-centred referral pathways—all with strict confidentiality.

Use diplomatic channels to press for effective investigation and prosecution of violence and hate crimes against LGBTI refugees, including misconduct by police and service providers.

Support Kenyan and South Sudan institutions and CSOs to develop hate crime documentation protocols for survivor-safe reporting channels, paired with legal aid.

Canada should urge countries in the region to remove discriminatory barriers to asylum.

Support emergency departures for extreme risk cases identified by UNHCR-trusted referral partners, especially those from Uganda.

Increase funding and slots under the government-assisted refugees program for resettlement pathways for high-risk Ugandan LGBTI refugees in Kenya and South Sudan to create an expedited channel for at-risk cases.

Increase funding to the national LGBTI organizations and their programs, which are critical in creating a welcoming environment for LGBTI individuals from around the world and from Uganda.

Exert diplomatic pressure on the Government of Uganda to repeal the repressive Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 and to protect its citizens from hate-motivated violence, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity.

I am in Canada because of the compassion of the Canadian government. The individuals currently stranded in the camps and cities across East Africa need that compassion today. Canada's leadership, applied through existing mechanisms and informed by on-the-ground expertise, can create the pathways to protection that LGBTIQ+ Ugandans need.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

Thanks to all of you.

I would now like to go to the first round of questions and answers.

I would like to invite Madame Kronis to take the floor for seven minutes, please.

The floor is yours.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

I want to start by thanking all of our witnesses, particularly those who have had personal experiences of discrimination and violence in their lives and in Uganda. Hopefully, they have made their way to a place of safety, because what you've been through is terrible. I hope that today has not been too painful for you in bringing back those bad memories.

Before I ask you some questions, I'd like to get an update from Dr. Chagutah on the situation in Uganda right now. This is our second session on this topic here at the committee. We had actually put it off deliberately so that we would have our second session after the election in January.

Could you update us on what happened in those elections? I think a number of Ugandan legislators who were behind the AHA were not re-elected, but there were also some advocates who weren't re-elected. There is an ongoing appeal to the Supreme Court of Uganda on this.

Could you provide us with an update on where things are at, to the best of your knowledge?

[Tigere Chagutah]

Thank you for that question.

It is fair to say that the situation in Uganda post-elections has increasingly become more difficult for LGBTQI+ people in the country. Indeed, our own analysis shows that the elections have disrupted representation, particularly among legislators who were challenging this repressive act.

What we have seen is that those in government have become more emboldened. As recently as February 18, 2026, we saw a very brazen and open attack on the rights of queer people in Uganda when two Ugandan women in their early twenties were arrested in Arua on allegations of kissing in public.

What this means for the future is that without concerted action from partners such as Canada, we see the situation deteriorating for queer people in Uganda.

Thank you very much.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you very much for that update.

I'm wondering if any of our witnesses who are from Uganda have heard anything from their comrades about how things are on the ground in Uganda. I also wonder if any of you want to elaborate on the situation in the refugee camps after the election, specifically around the choke point in Kenya and South Sudan.

This is for whoever has information about that.

Go ahead, please.

[Steven Kabuye]

Thank you. I'd like to elaborate more.

The most recently concluded election was full of human rights violations. The President of Uganda and his government openly showed the world that Uganda has no place for human rights, because they are full of gross human rights violations. We saw a change in everything. Today, 90% of the members of Parliament in Uganda are from the ruling party, not because they were voted in but because the President decided that they were supposed to come in, by hook or by crook. These are people who have openly been against equal rights, especially for minorities, especially for LGBTQ+ people.

Of course, this is an automatic danger to people who are fighting for survival. When it comes to refugee camps, it's even worse after the election, of course, with everything that is going on.

My colleague highlighted the situation of Wendy and her friend, who were arrested recently for allegedly kissing in public and were imprisoned. Of course, we know the law. The law has nothing in it that says kissing is an act of homosexuality, but because these politicians have power and they want to be heard and seen, they advocated that they be rearrested, even after the court gave them bail. They were rearrested and taken back to prison.

This is automatically a sign that shows that many people are going to flee the country into these refugee camps, which we know are not safe places for people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, as I highlighted. These people are raped. The police use it as an excuse to extort money from them to give them protection, but they are not protected. We have people who have been burned to death in these camps. Those who have fled to Sudan have also faced the same.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

I'm almost at the end of my allotted time.

Mr. Backé, could you just round that out? As someone who works in Nanaimo to support 2SLGBTQ+ refugees in general and specifically refugees from Uganda, you've had a bit of a longitudinal view of this before and after the election. How does this feel and how do the changes feel as time goes on? How does it feel to watch and to advocate?

[Horst Backé]

It's disappointing that things have not improved for LGBTQ people in refugee camps. We've witnessed, from a distance, people being assaulted. We've seen people's homes being burned to the ground. We've seen others—people whom we weren't supporting—dying as a result of arson and people being murdered.

Have things changed? It can't get much worse than it has been, so no, it hasn't changed. It's still awful. We need to do something to stop the flow of refugees, but we also need to realize that the Kenyan choke point, which has been there for a number of years, has created a backlog of people who are unable to leave, despite others wanting them to leave.

For organizations like ours, we could have done so much more and helped so many more people through private sponsorship if Kenya were giving exit visas, but they are not doing that for anyone without a passport.