HUMAN RIGHTS IN ERITREA

That this House strongly condemns the serious and systematic human rights violations committed by the Eritrean government, as detailed by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, which published a hard-hitting report last week; expresses its concern that the Eritrean government has created a pervasive climate of fear, causing hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee the country; deplores the evidence of Eritrea's use of compulsory, slavery-like national service, adoption of a shoot-to-kill policy at its borders, systematic stifling of dissent and complete failure to uphold the rule of law; notes that some of the violations found by the Commission may amount to crimes against humanity; is dismayed that it appears to have taken the recent migrant crisis in the Mediterranean for the international community to acknowledge the terrible suffering of the Eritrean people; and calls on the Government to condemn these violations in the strongest possible terms, to observe the Commission's request for the international community to offer protection to Eritreans fleeing the country and to work with the international community to address the appalling human rights situation in Eritrea.