Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his report. The integrity of borders, particularly the Ukrainian border, is something Irish people strongly support, given our own sad history. Our own borders were breached and they still are breached. I was recently at a dinner in Dushanbe with a member of the Duma whom I know. He provided an interesting perspective on Ukraine. We talked about it and he agreed it was a pity the February agreement was not honoured. It was a major mistake on the part of the EU to fail to bring much more pressure to bear once the protest morphed into anarchy and the President was overthrown, given that an election was already agreed for November. That mistake should be acknowledged and recognised; otherwise, it will be repeated. The member talked about his grandparents who were reared and lived near Kiev and of the connection between his family and Ukraine. He is only one of many Russians who have a connection with Ukraine. The connection between Ukraine and Russia raises a question as to why this whole issue was not anticipated. There is a very close connection. He spoke about Crimea, and I did not get any sense that Crimea will be handed back by the Russians any time soon. That is one perspective I relate to the Minister.

The next perspective relates to the fact that Tajikistan has suffered economically as a consequence of the sanctions. While I support the sanctions, as it is necessary to take some peaceful action to have issues redressed, 30% of that country's income comes from its emigrants. Is there a recognition at EU level that many of these former Soviet states, some of which, including Tajikistan, are quite poor, are suffering as a consequence of this? Is there an effort to at least have dialogue and see what can be done to alleviate the particular and indirect consequences for them of what is going on?

I refer to the displacement of 10 million Syrians, which is an alarming situation. The Minister has been to the region, as have many members of the committee, and seen the direct consequences of displacement in refugee camps. I noted a couple of months ago that the UN World Food Programme's food voucher scheme, directly targeting a couple of million Syrians, was suspended due to lack of funds. The Minister might comment on that. This is the type of thing it is important to anticipate and avoid if at all possible. I noted an article in Forbesmagazine which estimated that ISIS had an income in the region of €2 billion to €3 billion. That can only help it to export its terror across the globe. In his consultations and dialogue with the US and UK authorities, has the Minister got a sense that they accept some responsibility for creating the climate in which this was allowed to happen in the Middle East because of the invasion of Iraq? If there is such a recognition, what specifically do they see themselves doing to remedy what now looks like a disastrous consequence of an error of judgment?

While I am referring to the Middle East, I note the sense of abandonment Christians there in particular feel from the Western world. There is a whole litany of things that have happened, including the recent discovery of mass graves of Yazidi people by Kurds and Iraqis, which demonstrates the inhumanity of ISIS terrorist groups and the number of people who have been killed. We can only make conservative estimates as to how many at the moment. Assyrian Christians have been taken hostage, with the consequent effects on them. I understand from reports by Aid to the Church in Need a few weeks ago that up to 15 Assyrian Christians have been murdered. There is the question of Coptic Christians being beheaded in Libya. In the towns of Al-Shaddadeh and Al-Hasakah, 30 young Christian women were taken by ISIS with the intention of distributing them as concubines to serve the terrorists. I note from www.walkfree.org, which campaigns on this issue, specific instances of families which have been affected by captivity and sexual slavery. It is campaigning at UN Security Council level and targeting in particular Spain and New Zealand, which are new members. What are we doing specifically at the UN to raise awareness and ensure the most effective action is taken to tackle, to coin a phrase of the Minister's predecessor but without making the superficial comparison he did, the human rights issue of our day - the persecution of Christians and others across that region? It is absolutely appalling to any right-thinking person.

On 10 December 2014, the Dáil passed a motion similar to the one passed by the Seanad on 26 October 2014 on the recognition of Palestine based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. Will the Government act on these motions, which were passed unanimously in both Houses, and will Ireland recognise the state of Palestine in the near future? I join with my colleague Deputy Seán Crowe in his comments on imports from Israeli settlement areas. The committee asked for those to be banned quite some time ago. Many of us would welcome action on that.

Are efforts being made to persuade Egypt to reduce its restrictions on Gaza? My colleague, Deputy Brendan Smith, raised the issue of what was happening in Gaza. These are fertile breeding grounds for the terrorists of the future, unless we address the issues arising.

It is sad that 17 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed we are still seeing political manoeuvring and game playing in Northern Ireland. The issue is too important for this.