Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Commissioner for his contribution. However, I suggest to him that the EU is speaking out of both sides of its mouth on this matter. It is talking about solidarity while, in reality, shutting the doors on the most desperate and vulnerable people fleeing the most appalling circumstances. I did not understand the justification the Commissioner offered for the EU-Turkey deal. It is nothing short of a direct flouting of the most basic humanitarian law in that it is allowing for the expulsion of people who should be given asylum and their exportation or outsourcing to a regime whose human rights record is shockingly bad. Rather than Europe - one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, blocs in the world - opening its doors to the people who are fleeing from Syria and desperate situations in other locations, we choose to seek to corral them in Turkey and pay the latter for that purpose. That is shocking and it has consequences in terms of dealing with some of the root causes of the Syrian conflict.

One of the groups that deserves considerable credit for its role in resisting the malign forces in Syria is the Kurds, particularly the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK. It is outrageous that the party is still on the international terrorist list and is being persecuted by the Turkish regime. The PKK fought off ISIS and is one of the few progressive forces that could actually offer some type of solution to the horrible situation in Syria. If Europe had any sort of ethical compass, it would be telling the Turkish regime to end its persecution of the Kurdish people.

The witness has spoken about practicality and pragmatism but there has been nothing more practical than the role of the Kurds in resisting ISIS in Turkey and they get no real support from Europe or anywhere else.

I also ask about the Afghan deal. The leaked memo suggests that the European Union strong-armed representatives of the Afghan Government into agreeing a deal for mass deportation of Afghanis from all European states and made further European Union aid to Afghanistan conditional on the Afghan Government agreeing to this. This is shocking. Afghanistan is being ripped apart as we speak with war and it is a dangerous place, with renewed offensives in Kunduz and so on. What does the European Union do? It strong-arms the Afghan Government into agreeing to mass deportations of Afghanis from Europe. Is that true and did that happen? This is the report we are getting. People who attended the conference and so on are saying the Afghan Government was strong-armed. The quid pro quowas that aid would only be continued if Afghanistan signed up to this policy of mass deportations of Afghanis. If it is true, it is shocking beyond belief.

I want to speak about double standards in the wider political stance of the European Union on some of the root causes of these conflicts. Israel is an obvious issue. Why are the human rights conditions around the trade association agreements with Israel not being invoked? Why are those agreements with Israel not being suspended while Israel flouts basic human rights for Palestinians, particularly in Gaza? Everybody knows that what Israel is doing to Gaza is absolutely criminal, breaking every international law, and yet the European Union continues to give Israel favoured trade status. That sort of double standard then fuels radicalisation in the region. Similarly, European states are continuing to export arms to the Saudi Arabian Government, which is involved with appalling atrocities in Yemen. That is the type of double standard I refer to.

I agree with Senator Bacik, who spoke about the need for accountability from Russia arising from its absolutely disgusting attacks in Aleppo. We also need accountability from European Union member states bombing the hell out of Syria. How does that contribute and what is the European Union doing about its own member states bombing in Syria? That kind of double standard is precisely what is ripping the Middle East apart, creating the conditions in which extremist groups like ISIS can flourish.