Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and welcome the presentation. The witness mentioned the phrase "very dire" twice in his introductory remarks on the humanitarian situation and, indeed, the political situation that exists in South Sudan. The Chairman, in his remarks, mentioned that because there are so many crises throughout the world, the South Sudan crisis may not be in the public awareness as much as it needs to be, as the refugee problems in the Middle East and north Africa are at the moment and the conflict in Israel and Palestine and the growth of ISIS was in August 2014. South Sudan probably does not have the public awareness that it needs to have of the contributions and assistance of organisations such as the ICRC that are working there in most difficult circumstances. Following on from the Chairman's question, the establishment of the world's newest independent state was followed two years after by a devastating civil war. Has the international community - the United Nations, the United States or the European Union - been active in trying to assist in brokering peace? I fully understand that it is not straightforward or easy. On the violation-----