Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's a very good question. I was hoping that we would get to address this. From the beginning until now, Burma Task Force actually did put forward a memo discussing what happened in her first 100 days. She has not been silent from the beginning until now. She has been very vocal. She's been denying, and a lot of people were saying this is due to her just coming into power and trying to work out the details.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  They are two very important questions. Actually, on the way here I was on the phone with the chair of the Burma Task Force. He's at the Bangladesh border himself right now documenting some of what's going on. He specifically asked me to ask this committee if it can help with documenting what's going on there.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Before you, you have Ahmed Ramadan, an outreach coordinator for the Burma Task Force; and Anwar Arkani, president of the Rohingya Association of Canada. Hopefully, joining us soon will be Matthew Smith, the co-founder of Fortify Rights. We'll begin with Mr.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  They started creating...plundering, kind of letting loose the goons and the monks to attack Muslims in Burma proper as well as in Arakan state. Soon after, President Thein Sein himself proposed shipping out all the Rohingyas and sending them to a refugee camp, making them all refugees and, if there were third countries willing to take them, they could take them.

Canadian Heritage committee  My first point is, since you're dealing with systemic racism and religious discrimination, there is no worse demonstration of systemic racism than the genocidal elimination of an entire group based on race, religion, or ethnicity. There's no worse example of that than what is happening to Rohingya Muslims in Burma. The committee can play an extremely important role, because the government that is perpetrating these crimes against humanity is headed by an honorary Canadian citizen. You, Madam Chair, and members of your committee know that Canadian citizenship, honorary or otherwise, is a badge of honour.

Canadian Foreign Policy  At the same time, we need to have strong, clear leadership from the democracy movement in Burma that rallies public support around the protection of religious and ethnic minorities in Burma, in particular around a response to the issues that are affecting the Rohingya people. The Rohingya people should have full citizenship in Burma.

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, the crisis facing Rohingya people in Burma, which we consider a genocide, continues, but action at the UN Security Council is being blocked by China. This is tragic, but not much of a surprise, given the treatment of minorities in China, be they Christian, Tibetan Buddhist, Uighur Muslim, or Falun Gong.

Human Rights  Speaker, granted our request to convene an emergency debate to discuss the ethnic cleansing of Muslim Rohingya in Burma. I would like to add my voice to those of other members, calling on the Burmese government and Burmese military to stop this vicious assault on fundamental human rights. I also call on the Government of Canada to do more to respond.

Situation in Myanmar  Madam Speaker, I congratulate all members who have spoken tonight outlining the terrible situation for massive numbers of Rohingya. Burma had these types of murders, rapes, and extrajudicial killings for years on a bunch of ethnic groups, including the terrorist actions at the beginning of this phase. I hope all members agree that we want to try to eliminate all the improprieties happening in that state.

Situation in Myanmar  She spoke about the very clear early-warning signs, signs of things already happening much before this point, yet we see with human rights crises around the world—the situation in Syria and the situation in Burma are two contemporary examples—that it seems that the United Nations has not had the capacity to respond effectively. I would be curious to hear her thoughts on, first, what kinds of reforms to the United Nations should be proposed to make that body effective in responding to these issues, and second, how we can change the architecture of the response to these kinds of events so that we can say, “Never again,” and actually mean never again and actually action it, not just as a slogan but as a concrete reality.

Situation in Myanmar  Different people had different solutions for that problem, but if we look at what has happened in Syria, what is happening in Burma, and what is happening in other places, it becomes clear that the proof is in the pudding and that we need to look for other ways of responding. Here I think that part of the solution is UN reform.

Situation in Myanmar  Richard Harmston of South Asia Partnership Canada, sent me a long list of civil society organizations that have delivered a very important message on this pressing issue of the Rohingya refugees and the plight of the Rohingyas in Burma, now Myanmar. These organizations include the Burmese Muslim Association, the Canada Tibet Committee, the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada, the National Union of Public and General Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada's Social Justice Fund, the Rohingya Association of Canada, the Unifor Social Justice Fund, USC Canada, and World University Service of Canada.

Situation in Myanmar  Going one step further, French President Emmanuel Macron has used the word “genocide” to describe the killing of innocent Rohingya victims, committing to work at the United Nations Security Council to condemn the horrific atrocities being committed. At last Sunday's meeting, a representative of Burma Task Force Canada encouraged our government to call it what it is, a genocide, and to invoke the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. What I heard most clearly was the outrage expressed by countless residents about the killing of innocent civilians.

Situation in Myanmar  In fact, there is a June 2013 parliamentary report written by the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, chaired by the member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, of the foreign affairs and international development committee, chaired by the member for Niagara West. The headline is “Conflicting Realities: Reform Repression and Human Rights in Burma”. It is a 99-page report, and it details every single issue. It is not edifying or uplifting reading in any way, because it details the human rights violations; the violations of the rule of law; how freedom of expression, assembly, and association have been restricted; and forced labour.

Situation in Myanmar  This important report, in addition to dozens of other reports by several international groups, has repeatedly condemned the actions of the Myanmar security forces. I am pleased that Burma Task Force Canada has taken time to educate us. Many of us are new to this issue, newer than we should be. I know that the subcommittee on human rights has looked at this issue. I know that the foreign affairs committee has looked at it.