Statement made on 16 September 2009 by Senator Joan Fraser
Hon. Joan Fraser:
Honourable senators, next week it will be 13 months since a Canadian freelance journalist, Amanda Lindhout, was kidnapped in Somalia along with an Australian freelance reporter, Nigel Brennan.
Somalia has to be one of the worst places in the world in which to find oneself in such circumstances.
Ms. Lindhout was able to leave a telephone message on the line with Omni TV a few weeks ago. She said: ". . . I'm afraid I'll die in captivity if I don't get help soon.'' She said she was kept in shackles in a windowless room and was suffering from fever, dysentery and an abscessed tooth.
The family of Ms. Lindhout, understandably, has been extremely discreet about her plight. No one wants to upset efforts that one hopes are being made. However, on the one-year anniversary of her captivity, her family, along with Mr. Brennan's family, made a statement through the organization Reporters Without Borders saying that the two families continue to work tirelessly to secure their children's release with "little outside support.'' That is a disturbing phrase.
Can the leader assure us that the Government of Canada is working actively and with urgency, not only to locate Ms. Lindhout but to secure her release quickly?
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