Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today from Canadians for peace in Cameroon. They are an informal network of people from across Canada, who are raising awareness about the humanitarian catastrophe in Cameroon, in particular in two minority English-speaking regions, since late 2016. More than 3,000 people have died, more than 200 villages burned and over 650,000 have been displaced. For almost four years, 800,000 children have not been to school.
These petitioners are calling on the Liberal government to publicly condemn the violence and human rights abuses perpetrated by all sides in the anglophone regions of Cameroon. Further, they want to see Canada's government put direct and sustained diplomatic pressure on the Government of Cameroon to engage in meaningful negotiations for peace, mediated by an independent third party such as the proposed Swiss talks.