bout de papier, Vol. 17, No. 1 (2000) — Spring 2000 // Printemps 2000, p. 3
Question Period —
STATEMENT Mr. Steve Mahoney — Liberal Member of Parliament for Mississauga West
Mr. Speaker, last week I travelled with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Member from Compton-Stanstead to Nairobi, Kenya to meet with staff working with refugees and visa applicants.
These people work long emotionally-draining hours. They risk their lives. This is a very dangerous part of the world. Kate O’Brien interviews refugees in a camp in the Sahara desert. Security requirements are very serious. Kate is at risk every day. Michel DuPuis interviewed one woman who had seen her husband and son murdered, and endured two months in prison where she was tortured and raped.
Keith Swinton, Christopher Hazel, Lynda Bowler, Michel Dupuis and Kate O’Brien give hope and new life to people who could be dead. Our High Commissioner, Gerry Campbell, leads a team of true heroes, along with Bob Orr and Dr. Jeremy Brown. On behalf of all Canadians I want to thank them for their dedication and their bravery.
Question Period —
Refugee Camps
STATEMENT Mr. David Price — Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Compton-Stanstead
Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from a refugee camp in the northern part of Kenya. The camp has over a hundred and twenty thousand refugees, mostly Somalians, placed there for over nine years, living in conditions that we could not even dream of. Mr. Speaker, I have to commend the people working in these camps. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees and all the NGOs such as Docteurs sans frontières, world food organizations and all the dedicated church groups. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Canadian High Commissioner in Nairobi and all of his staff for setting up the details of this very important visit. I want to thank our immigration officers and staff in Kenya and London for letting our group sit in on interviews which included the Minister of Immigration and the Member for Mississauga West.
Last but not less I want to thank the Minister’s staff for setting up this on the ground experience and look at how we determine refugees, immigrants and visitors.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 17, No. 1 (2000) — Spring 2000 // Printemps 2000, p. 3. Read the rest of this issue →
