Canadian MPs have urged the government to do more to assist Agfhan minorities.
On Oct 26, MP Garnett Genius tabled a petition signed by thousands of Canadians drawing attention to the plight of Afghanistan’s religious minorities, in particular the Sikh and Hindu communities.
“The petition calls for the government to do more to advocate with our Afghan counterpart for the rights of these minorities. It also asks the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to use the powers granted him to create a special program to help persecuted minorities in Afghanistan.
“The community here in Canada is ready to sponsor these communities. It has been three years. It is time for action,” he said when tabling the petition in a routine proceeding in the Canadian parliament.
A suicide bombing on 1 July in Jalalabad killed a dozen Sikhs and Hindus, including Atvar Singh Khalsa, the only Sikh candidate running in elections this year. His son Narinder Singh then stood in the 20 Oct parliamentary elections.
Genius joined MPs from three parties – Conservative, NDP, and Green – tabling the petitions asking the government to advocate for human rights protection in Afghanistan and to help facilitate the private sponsorship of these vulnerable refugees.
In a Facebook entry, he thanked the Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, Cheryl Hardcastle, Bob Saroya, Harold Albrecht, and Arnold Viersen.
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