Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is related to the worsening human rights situation in North Korea. The petitioners note many grave violations of human rights in this petition, including prioritization of food distribution to those considered useful to the survival of the current political systems, with those deemed expendable facing deprivation, and a vast security apparatus associated with all kinds of oppression, public execution, forced imprisonment of citizens in political prison camps, terrorizing the population into submission, the state-sponsored abduction of citizens of other nations, etc.
Further, the petitioners raise concern about how the People's Republic of China has disregarded or ignored recommendations from the UN Commission of Inquiry regarding North Korean defectors and other issues, including not sending people back to North Korea, as well as allowing the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations full access to North Korean defectors and other supports that are important for those who have fled North Korea.
The petitioners, therefore, call on the Government of Canada to take action in regard to these human rights abuses and to table regular reports in Parliament on the situation of human rights in North Korea, including the state of political prison camps and correctional labour camps. They call on the government to provide updates on the status and challenges faced by North Korean defectors in China and elsewhere and ask that Canadian policies toward North Korean defectors provide support to those defectors and refugee claimants.
They want to see Canada engage actively with international organizations and foreign governments to press the PRC to allow safe passage for North Korean refugees to South Korea, where they are recognized as citizens, and to establish initiatives to support the promotion of human rights in North Korea and aid defectors without specifying a particular legislative structure. The measures can include monitoring and reporting on human rights in North Korea, supporting North Korean defectors in other regions, developing strategies for Canada to assist in protecting North Korean citizens from crimes against humanity and supporting international efforts to safeguard the people of North Korea from crimes against humanity and promote political freedom, including through dialogue with relevant organizations and governments.
I thank members of the Canadian Korean community, who worked hard on bringing this petition to the attention of the House.