PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
WHEREAS:
The war that the Russian Federation launched against Ukraine on February 24 is the greatest tragedy in Europe since the Second World War;
Here in Canada, we are proud of our peacekeeping history and standing up for what is right; it is time for all of us to take a step toward ensuring civilians can safely evacuate Ukraine;
The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war is "thousands higher" than official figures, the head of the U.N.'s human rights monitoring mission in the country said. The official U.N. civilian death toll in Ukraine stands at 3,381, and 3,680 injured. At the same time, individual Ukrainian cities have published estimates that dwarf the U.N.'s figures - besieged Mariupol alone has estimated more than 20,000 civilian deaths;
Nearly 1.2 million Ukrainians, including 200,000 children, have been taken from their homes and deported to Russia. Thousands are being interned in "filtration" camps. These deportations and internments echo the worst atrocities of Europe's past and clearly constitute ethnic cleansing by the Russian state;
Seven weeks of war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of 4.3 million children - more than half of the country's estimated 7.5 million child population, including more than 1.8 million children who have crossed into neighbouring countries as refugees and 2.5 million who are now internally displaced inside Ukraine. Of the 3.2 million children estimated to have remained in their homes, nearly half may be at risk of not having enough food, according to the latest statistics released by UNICEF;
According to the U.N., over 6 million people have fled Ukraine to date. Humanitarian corridors halt hostilities in combat zones so that besieged populations can escape the conflict along designated routes and allow urgent humanitarian aid to enter for those who remain. Humanitarian organizations find it almost impossible to deliver aid, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians need help to evacuate cities and towns under attack; and
World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe on June 20, 2022. We request this to be brought forward as a date when Members of Parliament call for an urgent ceasefire to allow more people to escape the conflict, find a safe place to call home, and ultimately save lives.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the government to:
1. Intervene in the unprovoked, illegal war waged by Russia on Ukraine to uphold Canada's peacekeeping traditions, advocate for an urgent ceasefire, and ensure humanitarian corridors are secured; and
2. Call for an urgent ceasefire in cooperation with humanitarian organizations to take place on an international humanitarian date that honors Canadian values and upholds our pride and history in being a peacekeeping nation.