This meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights was part of its study on the human rights situation of children around the world. Appearing were Shelly Whitman, Executive Director of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security; Zineb Riboua, Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute; Yasmin Ullah, Executive Director of the Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network; and Mykola Kuleba, Chief Executive Officer of Save Ukraine.
Shelly Whitman testified that grave violations against children in conflict zones have surged by 373% since 2010, far outpacing the 60% rise in children living in conflict areas, indicating a breakdown in international protections. She noted that both state and non-state actors are responsible, with government forces committing severe abuses like attacks on schools and hospitals, while non-state groups account for nearly half of all violations. She recommended that Canada champion stronger investment in child protection as central to peace and security, arguing that the economic and moral costs of inaction are too high.
Zineb Riboua argued that the most systematic violations against children in the Middle East trace to the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxy network, including the IRGC, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, citing decades of evidence such as the use of schoolboys as minefield clearers during the Iran-Iraq War. She stated that addressing root causes like poverty requires confronting the organizational actors perpetuating them, and that Canada’s existing legal designations of the IRGC and Hezbollah provide a strong foundation for multilateral engagement. She disagreed implicitly with any framing that distributes blame evenly across actors, emphasizing that Iran is the single organizing source of violations.
Yasmin Ullah described three urgent forms of forced labour affecting Rohingya children: trafficking of girls into domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, forced labour of boys as young as eight in dangerous jobs, and forced conscription of boys by Myanmar’s military junta and the Arakan Army, with 77% of conscripted children used as human shields. She recommended that Canada expand anti-trafficking initiatives with Rohingya-led organizations, protect education and child protection programming as a prevention tool, and advocate for greater livelihood opportunities for refugees to reduce economic pressures driving exploitation.
Mykola Kuleba testified that Russia has abducted, indoctrinated, and militarized Ukrainian children in occupied territories, forcing them to watch propaganda, train with drones, and dig trenches, while prescribing psychotropic drugs to sedate them for conscription. He stated that Save Ukraine has rescued 1,343 children, with Canadian support helping to identify 800 profiles and rescue 200, but called for more international action to hold Russia accountable and rescue the over one million children still trapped. He urged Canada not to wait and to continue its leadership in bringing Putin to justice.
During questions, members explored the impact of great-power rivalries on child recruitment, the gap between counterterrorism and child protection policies, and the role of the Abraham accords in offering alternatives to indoctrination. Witnesses also discussed the long-term psychological effects on children, the lack of hope among those in cartels and conflict zones, and the need for longer-term rehabilitation funding and deradicalization programs. The meeting concluded without procedural debate or votes.
AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.