Mr. Speaker, more than 370 UN peacekeepers and military observers have been taken hostage or are surrounded by Bosnian Serbs. Seventeen of them are literally being used as human shields.
We would like to express our deep concern for the Quebec and Canadian peacekeepers who are among the hostages and we wish to express our profound empathy with their families in this time of anguish and fear for them.
Of the 2,100 members of the Canadian military currently deployed in the former Yugoslavia, ten have been taken hostage. Eight of these ten are Quebecers, who are members of the third battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment from Valcartier. Forty-five other members of the armed forces are confined to their observation post.
We all hope that the current negotiations will quickly lead to their release.