Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring the attention of the House to the ongoing human rights abuses against the 50 million Sindhi people of Pakistan. Many other ethnic and religious minority groups, including Christians, Hindus, and Sufis, also call the Sindh province, including the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad, home. Over 1,200 cases of missing persons in Sindh have been reported since 2010.
According to reports from the U.S. State Department, extrajudicial killings, torture, and targeted violence against ethnic and religious minority groups are common practices in the region, and the Pakistani government has done little to prevent this violence. Since February, over 150 political and human rights activists, as well as journalists, have gone missing in Sindh. Violence against women is rampant, with young girls frequently kidnapped and subjected to arranged marriages, including forced conversion to Islam.
The state-sponsored rise of violence and extremism is a denial of the Sindh people's basic human rights. Canada has a duty to stand up now for the protection of the Sindh people, not just through flowery words of support for the victims but through actions that provide practical assistance.