Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like other members, I welcome Mr. Iginla and thank him for attending. As has been said, others have not attended. In that regard, I acknowledge and compliment Deputy Quinn on the initiative he took, because it is on his initiative that Church in Chains produced this report. I join with him in being critical of those who have not attended, which is a pity. However, we should not be diverted from seeking their participation. We have not had responses from three of them and we should continue to afford them the opportunity to come before the committee.

I note the letter from the Egyptian ambassador, with whom I had a long discussion on this issue and others, and welcome her statement that the cases of violations reflected in the report of Church in Chains have not been ignored or left unnoticed. She says that details on specific abduction cases would be appreciated and that the embassy has sent a copy of the report to Egypt and asked for a thorough investigation into those cases and a quick response, which will be communicated to the committee and the NGO concerned once received. We should pursue the matter and provide the additional information about the cases of the girls who were abducted, as has happened the Chibok girls who were put into sexual slavery by jihadists. This should be pursued and the examples given.

In her letter, the Egyptian ambassador quotes Article 3 of the Vienna convention. The suggestion is that she does not consider it appropriate to attend another Parliament's elected body to be accountable. Perhaps this is influencing some of the other countries. Iran implied that it was happy to meet the committee but that 16 December did not suit. We should explore the possibility of asking Iran to nominate an alternative date that would be suitable. We should ask the other three countries, in the event that they are not prepared to come before an open meeting of the committee, if they would informally meet the members of the committee. The issues are too important not to be pursued. This is a huge human rights issue.

In that regard, to what extent are external influences and the radicalisation of some Muslim groups part of the situation in northern Nigeria with Boko Haram? In particular, I note recent reports that Saudi Arabia has published another year's worth of public school textbooks that promote hateful ideas against various minorities. A Saudi imam whose public sermons have beseeched God to destroy Christian, Jews, Alawites and Shias is reportedly still employed as a Saudi education official and serves as a frequent guest on Saudi Arabia's State television channel. I have mentioned a number of times here that I view Saudi Arabia as a pariah state. I hope the committee at some stage will seek to interact with Saudi embassy officials to see how we might explore these issues. Is there influence from Saudi or other outside bodies that is leading to increasing the radicalisation and an increase in the threat of Boko Haram in Nigeria? I know there has been an alignment with Daesh recently. Will Mr. Iginla comment in that regard?

I note from his report and others that there has been some success with regard to the pushing back of Boko Haram on the part of the Nigerian military in recent times. This has given rise to transferring the problem into southern Chad and Cameroon. What political and military interaction and co-operation is taking place with the authorities in Chad and Cameroon in order to have a successful military and political initiative that would eliminate the threat of Boko Haram?

The 276 girls from the Chibok school who were abducted, of whom 219 are still in captivity, have already been mentioned. There was a great degree of expectation when the new president, President Buhari, was elected. He is a former military man and his pre-election statements were that there was really going to be a strong focus and targeting on resolving the issue and getting those girls released. There is now a lot of disappointment that there has been no development in that regard. Does Mr. Iginla see any hope that the abducted Chibok schoolgirls will be rescued? What, if anything, can be done to ensure the security of Christians and other minorities such as moderate Muslims? It is not only Christians who are targeted by Boko Haram.

What can be done to ensure we can have greater control of that situation security-wise?