Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present petitions signed by over 1,000 residents of Alberta and British Columbia who express serious concern about rampant human rights abuses in Indonesia and in particular about serious looting, rioting and the death of more than 1,300 people last May.
The petitioners note that hundreds of ethnic Chinese women were raped and they point out that there is a long history of discrimination against ethnic Chinese living in Indonesia.
The petitioners call on Canada as a human rights leader to speak out on this and they urge parliament to appeal to the president of Indonesia to enact and enforce laws so as to protect the safety and rights of the ethnic Chinese, to bring those responsible for these atrocities to justice, to apologize and compensate the victims and to form an autonomous committee promoting racial harmony.
The petitioners call on Canada to modify our current immigration regulations to help respond to this humanitarian crisis. I certainly echo their call.