CANADA: TAKE ACTION TO END SLAVERY

We are outraged by the reports of slave auctions of refugees and migrants in Libya and the scale of modern day slavery. According to the International Organization for Migration, 40 million people are being held in slavery today. Over 70% of these slaves are women and 20% are children. And there is an estimation of 1 million of migrants being held against their will or enslaved in Libya.

We appreciate your public statement on November 26th, 2017 denouncing the migrant slave trade and your acknowledgement that more has to be done to address the situation. Addressing the situation means bringing the perpetrators to justice and protecting migrants and refugees. We urge you to take action to end slavery by working with our international partners to ensure that the:
• Governments of Libya and other host countries decriminalize irregular migrants and refugees.
• Governments of Libya and other host countries move towards replacing detention centers with open reception centers where migrants are able to come and go freely until they either find work locally or return home voluntarily.
• Perpetrators involved in the slave trade or the mistreatment of migrants are brought to justice.
• Individuals who are currently being held in slavery are freed and able to return to their countries of origin or a safe country of asylum.

The government of Canada is viewed as a world leader in refugee protection. We are asking you to live up to this reputation by providing additional generous financial support to UN agencies and host countries like Uganda in response to the global refugee crisis. Canada must also do its part to provide asylum to migrants and refugees who are victims of slavery. Since 2016 over 7,000 migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean region have been confirmed as dead or missing by the IOM. It is essential that you take immediate action on this issue to prevent more lives from being lost.
Please sign this petition within 45 days. Dateline January 25, 2018.