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Portions of Iraq and Syria have been seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, prompting thousands to try to reach safety in Europe.

“Alongside robust humanitarian assistance, (ISIL) must be confronted directly through military action along with our allies,” Vo said Thursday, repeating a similar message from earlier in the day issued by Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

But in April, Defence Minister Jason Kenney said Canada had no responsibility to help on the migrant issue.

“This is a challenge for African and European countries in and around the Mediterranean,” Kenney explained in an interview on CBC. “We do not bear responsibility for decisions that people make to hire unscrupulous human traffickers and put them in danger’s way.”

Human smugglers have flourished in Libya in the chaos created by the 2011 overthrow of that country’s leader, Moammar Gadhafi.

Kenney acknowledged that Canada played a major role in the NATO mission that removed Gadhafi from power, but said the migration crisis was in no way linked to the situation in Libya.

In April the European Union proposed bombing the smuggler’s boats in Libya to prevent them from being used. That didn’t happen but some European nations increased their efforts to rescue migrants at sea.

In May, the Royal Navy sent one of its warships, HMS Bulwark, to help. The ship rescued at least 500 migrants off the coast of Libya. The Irish naval service also committed a ship in May. That vessel helped save 2,000 migrants. On Aug. 22 the Italian navy rescued 3,000 migrants in the Mediterranean.