Rohingya, Venezuela added to Canada’s G7 international security agenda
OTTAWA — Canada is expanding the focus of the upcoming G7 foreign ministers meeting to include the plight of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh and the democratic backslide in Venezuela.
Those items are being added to the “perennial” international security issues the G7 usually confronts, such as Syria, Ukraine and Iran, Peter Boehm, Canada’s chief summit organizer, said Monday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has said Canada wants to use the G7 to leverage the recommendations in the recently completed report by its special envoy Bob Rae, who called for the perpetrators of violence against the Rohingya to be brought to justice.
The Rohingya issue has particular relevance because it dovetails with the summit’s theme of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, Freeland told a recent summit-related event at the University of Toronto.