Madam Speaker, I suspect this will be my final petition because of time.
This petition draws the attention of the House to human rights abuses in Eritrea, as well as actions of the Eritrean government that constitute foreign interference. Eritrea has been called the “North Korea of Africa”. There is a complete lack of basic political freedoms, and many have gone into exile. However, many of those in exile continue to face various forms of foreign interference, and their family members may be targeted with extortion as a result of the fact that members of their family are in exile.
The petitioners also note that Eritrea's government is an ally of Vladimir Putin.
Therefore, they want to see the government engage Eritrean political and human rights activists and pro-democracy groups, take a leadership role against Eritrea's human rights abuses and foreign interference activities, and enforce Canada's asylum law to prevent those who are associated with hostile regimes from being able to come to Canada. They also want to see strengthened sanctions against human rights abusers, and they are advocating for the release of various imprisoned parliamentarians and journalists in Eritrea.