Monique Guay

[Kosovo, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, once peace accords have been signed for Kosovo, Canada will have a moral obligation to take part in the peacekeeping process, in humanitarian aid operations and in the rebuilding of a devastated Kosovo.

Could the Prime Minister guarantee that, when the time will come to rebuild Kosovo, the government will have earmarked the necessary funds and budgets to fulfil the commitments that it will have to make to contribute to this reconstruction process?

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the bombing area is one travelled through by many refugees, and numerous NGOs are working there as well.

Since Doctors without Borders and NGO workers are at risk, does the minister still think that deploying troops is hypothetical, as he said yesterday?

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, NATO said it wanted to preserve the territorial integrity of Albania and Macedonia at all costs. Now Serb troops have moved into Albania and there has been mortar fire on the border with Macedonia for several days.

My question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Can the minister tell us what NATO intends to do following its undertaking to protect Albania's borders?

[Kosovo, April 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, under Germany's proposed peace plan, international aid organizations will begin their work in Kosovo as soon as the first soldiers of the international peacekeeping force arrive.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Will the government undertake, here and now, to develop a plan with Quebec and Canadian NGOs working on the ground, so that Canada's assistance is effective and meets the most pressing needs?

[Kosovo, April 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister said that our suggestion to use Canada's voice at the UN security council to promote the idea of an international protectorate in Kosovo would be useless. However, according to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, NATO members are giving more and more thought to this solution and are calling on the UN and Russia to help settle the crisis.

Does the Prime Minister still think that getting the UN security council involved in the establishment of an international protectorate in Kosovo would produce no results?

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, during the past week, the parliaments of Albania and the Republic of Macedonia appealed to us for help in taking in, feeding and housing Kosovar refugees.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Has the government already made commitments in this regard and does it intend to use the $100 million set aside to take the refugees in here to add to the help provided the NGOs?

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Beauharnois—Salaberry. I am not the minister for international co-operation but I do have some ideas and I would act swiftly.

We already have some resources at our disposal. We have CIDA, which is active throughout the world. I would first use the resources we already have in these regions to provide whatever help is needed as quickly as possible.

I would not be afraid to ask for $100 million. I think the minister is not being vocal enough to get the government to hand over the money needed to help the countries caught in this crisis.

I would exert incredible pressure on the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister to get the funds needed and to help these people, I would try to avoid duplication and use existing resources in these regions to act more quickly.

That is what I would do.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, for the moment all that can be done is to protect those refugees who are outside Kosovo. This will take as long as it takes. What is important at the moment is for these people to have food, basic care, everything they need to survive.

It is up to developed countries to send them what they need, to send money and whatever is required to ensure their survival.

Has a time limit ever been put a war or a dispute between countries? Must a limit be set, whereby people can remain in one place for six months, and then will be sent elsewhere? These people do not want to leave their region, they want to stay there. Their culture is there. Their country is there. They are just waiting to be able to get back to it. Let us try to settle the situation as soon as possible, so that they can get back to Kosovo and finally find happiness in their country.

They are not going to find happiness by being taken to other countries continents away. I would not want to compare the present crisis with what is going on in Palestine. Every crisis has its own history. Every war, every movement has its own history, in its own time. They cannot be compared.

Canada and all of the developed countries have a duty to send aid to these people in Albania and Macedonia as promptly as possible, particularly since we know that those countries do not have the resources to be able to help them.

Let us do our duty, then, and let the government send the necessary funds and aid to these countries.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, I wish to inform the House that I will share my time with the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

It is with a heavy heart that I rise to speak in this House today about the catastrophic war in Kosovo. Diplomacy did not alas have the hoped-for results, and it is with arms that the international community is attempting to convince Slobodan Milosevic to halt his aggression against the Kosovars. It is consensus within NATO that will replace the endorsement of the United Nations.

As the Bloc Quebecois international co-operation critic, I am concerned above all about the fate of the refugees driven from Kosovo by this conflict.

The conflict we are seeing in Kosovo at the present time is the outcome of many years of instability in the Balkans, instigated largely by one man, or rather one dictator, Slobodan Milosevic. This 57 year old man has tried for an entire decade to dictate the course of history in the Balkans, always using the same methods, terror and blood, and always with the same goal, strengthening his own power.

It was time the international community took steps to change this state of affairs. Obviously the Bloc Quebecois would have preferred a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict over Kosovo, but unfortunately there is this man, Slobodan Milosevic, defending a greater Serbia at any cost.

The result has been war in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Each time it is the same Machiavellian logic. Igniting a crisis, proclaiming himself the nation's champion to reassert his authority and legitimacy over a powerless people already suffering from many years of bloody conflicts.

These people are now nothing but the playthings of a single man's ambition and, each time, the adventure is a real debacle of humanitarian catastrophes.

Let us pass in review the military exploits of this dictator, Milosevic. First, it is important to bear in mind that the population of Kosovo is 90% Albanian. In 1974 Albania was given independent status, but in 1989 Milosevic unilaterally withdrew by decree its status of independent territory. That was the spark that led to the Yugoslav explosion of the 1990s.

As part of Milosevic's harassment, the Albanian language was banned, and Albanian language schools, theatres and newspapers were closed down. In light of this new situation, the Kosovars held a referendum that allowed them to declare Kosovo's independence.

The Milosevic government reacted brutally to that resistance by sending troops into Kosovo. From then on, the Kosovar people were the victims of massacres, gang rapes, and the systematic destruction of villages. A number of NGOs estimated that over 250,000 Kosovars had been displaced and that at least 50,000 persons had fled to the mountains. I need not tell you that, from then on, the international community was faced with a humanitarian disaster.

Let us now look at the present situation. On March 11, 1999, before the air strikes had begun, Sadako Ogata, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, estimated that 400,000 persons had been forced to flee their homes since the conflict had begun in March 1998. Of that number, nearly 230,000 had been displaced within Kosovo.

On March 24, the day the air strikes began, there were a total of 450,000 Kosovar refugees, including 260,000 within Kosovo.

Today, according to estimates by the UN High Commission for Refugees, some 650,000 inhabitants out of a population of some 2 million have fled Kosovo. Furthermore, it is estimated that half the refugees are under 18 years of age.

Among the adult refugees, some 85% are women. There is also a great many elderly persons. As well, in today's newspapers, we read that the British authorities estimate the number of men Kosovar refugees who may have disappeared at 100,000.

Faced with such a disastrous picture, now is more than ever the time to think about these humanitarian crises. Why have we not learned from the past? In the present conflict, international diplomatic efforts broke down, let us remember, back in 1989.

What explanation is there for the fact that the international community, including Canada, did not take note of the Bosnian tragedy and not only the humanitarian but also the financial and political costs of failing to take strong action while there was still time?

It was a good long time ago that the Bloc Quebecois first warned the Canadian government about the atrocities in Kosovo and the importance of considering air strikes and, if no other solution could be found, the sending of NATO ground troops in to put a stop to ethnic cleansing and prevent the genocide of the people of Kosovo.

I want to repeat that the Bloc Quebecois has always been in favour of a diplomatic resolution to the current conflict, but one must be realistic when faced with the obstinacy of Slobodan Milosevic. It is probable that, if Canada and the international community had followed the advice of the Bloc Quebecois, there would not now be 650,000 Kosovar refugees, to say nothing of massacred civilians, torture and the mass exile of whole villages.

It is high time that the international community gave serious thought to and registered, once and for all, all the errors that have been committed, and made sure they will not happen again.

This having been said, the fact remains that we are now facing an atrocious reality, that of a humanitarian crisis.

The refugee overflow into the republic of Macedonia and into Albania may well destabilize the governments of those countries. This means that direct, massive, unconditional assistance must be provided if we want to prevent the conflict from spilling over in the entire region. Appeals by these two countries must be taken seriously, and Canada has an obligation to respond to them.

In addition to these geographic and political contingencies, all western countries have an obligation to provide every assistance they can to the persons displaced by the conflict.

The assistance required is considerable, and will continue to be so for a long time. Canada must prepare to provide assistance and, starting now, must show its support for NGOs, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the Red Cross and other organizations.

Canada must also consider the urgency of the situation on the ground, particularly in Albania and the republic of Macedonia, where the influx of Kosovar refugees and the resulting need for humanitarian assistance continue unabated every day.

I want to reiterate the question I asked here in this House during Oral Question Period this afternoon: Is the government prepared to reallocate the $100 million set aside to take in Kosovar refugees here, to help the NGOs that are now looking after refugees over there? Unfortunately I did not obtain a response to my question this afternoon. The government must realize that every dollar spent on humanitarian assistance can save a life, or at least lessen the suffering of the Kosovar refugees. The need is very great indeed.

I would like to quote the words of Bajram Cena, the director of the hospital in Kukes, Albania, where every day thousands of refugees are pushing to get in:

It is like the end of the world—in the operating room, all that is available to doctors are scissors, thread for sutures and a few bottles of rubbing alcohol. The nurses are digging out shrapnel splinters without anaesthetic. On the other side of the corridor, blood soaked compresses are floating in the toilets—

Could this money not be put to use by this doctor for his hospital? When I say that the life and the most basic well-being of the refugees depends on this, it is nothing but the stark truth. What will the government do with the $100 million? That money must be used immediately.

In conclusion, and for the benefit of listeners in Quebec and Canada, I would like to recall that it is vital to give generously to help Kosovar refugees. Those who would like to donate money, because money is what is most urgently needed, can do so via the Red Cross, among other agencies, at a toll free number that I will give right now: 1-800-418-1111.

[Kosovo, March 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the government whether any Canadian nationals are still in Kosovo, and if so what steps have been, or will be, taken to help and protect them?