Mr. Speaker, I think this is very relevant to the debate that has just taken place and, therefore, I would like to review on the record some comments that were made by President Václav Havel, the President of the Czech Republic, on April 29.
He said that if it is possible to say about war that it is ethical, or that it is fought for ethical reasons, it is true of this war. He was referring to the Kosovo war. He said that Kosovo has no oil fields whose output might perhaps attract somebody's interest, no member country of the alliance has any territorial claims there, and Milosevic is not threatening either the territorial integrity or any other integrity of any NATO member.
He went on to say that, nevertheless, the alliance is fighting. It is fighting in the name of human interest for the fate of other human beings. It is fighting because decent people cannot sit back and watch the systematic, state directed massacre of other people. Decent people simply cannot tolerate this and cannot fail to come to the rescue, if a rescue action is within their power.
He concluded by saying that this war gives human rights precedence over the rights of states. The federal republic of Yugoslavia has been attacked without a direct UN mandate for the alliance's action, but the alliance has not acted out of licence, aggressiveness or disrespect for international law. On the contrary, it has acted out of respect for the law and that law ranks higher than the protection of the sovereignty of states. It has acted out of respect for the rights of humanity.
I think that is the answer to the member's question about whether the vote is important or whether human rights are important.
On April 27, two days earlier, I had the opportunity to ask the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration a question which was prompted by the events that have transpired in Kosovo over all these many weeks which had to do with refugees. I asked the minister the question because as Canadians we collectively share concern about the plight of the refugees in Kosovo and because many members of parliament have been approached by constituents who have family members in that area who are in harm's way. The question to the minister was basically: What are the government's efforts with regard to these refugees, particularly those who have family members already living in Canada?
The minister responded by saying that there had already been, I believe, 120 applications for sponsorship and that that they covered as many as 700 people. She was also pleased to announce, and I think the House was very delighted to hear, that as of April 27 the first refugees were arriving in Canada, some in my riding of Mississauga South.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration please update us on the rapidly evolving developments with regard to refugees, those who are coming here under sponsorship and those who we are bringing to Canada possibly on a temporary basis as opposed to a long term basis? I think Canadians would like to be updated on that matter.