Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

All right. We do look alike. I welcome Mr. Iginla to this meeting. I join my colleagues in recording my disappointment regarding the non-attendance of many of those who were invited to come to this meeting. I suppose their failure to turn up for various reasons - some of them decided not to make themselves available - means they have opted out of the whole idea of today, which is to try to focus on what is happening in certain countries. Mr. Iginla's presence means there is probably more of a focus on what is happening in Nigeria.

It is important for us to mention that Christians are not the only group who are being discriminated against around the world and that the countries who were invited to send representatives to this meeting are not the only countries where discrimination is happening. I suppose it is the nature of religion that some religions' belief that they have the chosen word will engender or lead to people being discriminated against. The section of our documentation setting out the persecution category definitions says that persecution includes the use of blasphemy laws, apostasy laws, arrests, fines, imprisonment, torture, execution, persecution by society, abduction, murder, violent mob attack, including bombings, shootings and arson. I suppose that is what is actually happening to many minorities in many countries. As a starting point, we should look at what happened in our own country not so long ago. People were targeted supposedly because of their religious or political persuasions. Many innocent people were slaughtered because of their affiliations to particular churches.

I believe we all stand united in our opposition to Boko Haram and the fundamentalist jihadist element represented by Boko Haram. It is a threat to all right-thinking people, including Muslims, people of other religions and people of no religion. My colleague has given the figures for the number of deaths. I have seen figures to suggest that last year, Boko Haram was responsible for 6,644 deaths. That was the scale of the deaths in 2014 alone. I would be interested to hear Mr. Iginla expand on his President's plans to defeat Boko Haram. I hope the new approach that is to be taken will be inclusive. Reference has been made to the targeting of Sambisa Forest. What is the nature of that campaign? Does it involve the dropping of bombs in the forest? I am conscious that questions have been asked about the Chibok girls, who are still missing. Other children have been taken from other schools.

I suppose the attacks on these compounds and the danger of these innocents being slaughtered are also a part of that campaign. What safeguards are in place? How does one set about the rescue and liberation of those children? Is there any update on these girls and other children and freeing them from their brutal captivity? What happens when children are rescued? How are they assimilated back into their families and communities? Are there societal pressures? Are they forced into marriages? What impact does this have? Could Mr. Iginla give us examples of how children were assimilated back into society?

There is a concern that the Government has been over-reliant on local militias to combat groups such as Boko Haram. The information coming back to us from NGOs on the ground is that these militias are also violating human rights. What is Mr. Iginla's reply to these accusations? Is it happening?