Mr. Jim Clarken:

I thank the committee for giving us the time to highlight what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian situation in the world since 1945. That is very grim. The issues we have to face up to are enormous. It is an important moment and we are grateful to the committee for doing this and to Ms Conway for providing an account of the human impact of the things we are talking about because while I will talk about vast numbers and a big political and conflict-related problem at the end of the day it comes down to real people like the ones Ms Conway has described. It is important to always remember that and keep it to the forefront of our mind.

Famine has been declared in South Sudan. It is a word bandied around in public circles but not in our sector. It has a very specific and clear definition. The last famine in the world was over seven years ago. Now we face four over the next few weeks or months. That is on top of what is happening in Syria and other crises we are not hearing about.

I will speak specifically about Yemen, which has had two years of brutal conflict. The UN has designated it as the worst humanitarian crisis on the globe. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan warned that Yemen is in danger of becoming a failed state and that the number of people in need in Yemen now exceeds the number in Iraq or Syria. More than 3 million people have been forced from their homes, and over 46,000 women, men and children have been killed or injured since the escalation of conflict in March 2015. Political and military decisions made by all parties to the conflict have now led the country to the brink of famine, and 70% of people in Yemen are dependent on humanitarian assistance. Basic services like health, water and education are collapsing. The economy is in crisis, with food prices on average up to 22% higher than before the escalation of the conflict, pushing the basics beyond the reach of most people. We are now in a situation where nearly two-thirds of the total population, 17.1 million people, are hungry. Over 7 million of these are already starving and just one step away from that catastrophic determination of famine.

Despite this, Oxfam has been working to try to deliver life-saving assistance. Since 2015, we have been reaching more than 1 million people with clean water, hygiene kits and other essential aid. In the four governorates of Yemen, three of which are at risk of famine, Oxfam is supporting over 200,000 people with cash to buy food in local markets, or to purchase livestock as a potential source of income.

The devastating conflict in Yemen has been fuelled by official arms sales by some Western Governments, including the UK and US, as well as illicit arms transfers within the region and high levels of arms stockpiled in the country. Media reports carried last week claim that US Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis, has requested the White House to lift Obama-era restrictions on US military support to Gulf States engaged in the Yemeni conflict, such as United Arab Emirates, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. In a memo this month to the US National Security Adviser H.R McMaster, Mattis said that even limited support for operations being conducted in Yemen, including a planned offensive on the port of Hodeida led by UAE, would help combat a "common threat".

To put that in context, Hodeida Port handles 70% of Yemen's food imports as well as humanitarian aid. An attack on the port would prevent the majority of imports to the country from being accessed and would push people further towards famine with devastating impact. Rerouting supplies and overland transport would greatly increase the costs and further delay the delivery of much needed aid to the northern part of the country.

All land, sea and air routes to Yemen must remain open to allow the regular and consistent flow of food, fuel and medicines to the country to meet the needs of the population. Humanitarian law dictates that attacks targeting military objects related to supply routes and infrastructure, including ports, should not disproportionately affect civilians. Yet cutting off Yemen’s only lifeline, Hodeida port, is currently being discussed at the highest levels, potentially with support from the UK, the Government of which dedicated several hours to discussions on Yemen in Parliament last week. This is very pressing and urgent. Ireland and Yemen are not so far apart as one might think. We have strong trade ties in surrounding countries, as well as longstanding diplomatic engagement and opportunities to have an influence. The Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, visited the Gulf recently, and made Ireland’s opposition to the conflict clear, but more needs to be done.

We urge the committee to take action. The Irish Government, specifically the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, should use Ireland’s influence at UN and EU levels to stop countries from being arms brokers and help them to become peace brokers, in line with the commitments made in our Constitution. We ask the committee to write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to request an update on diplomatic efforts made by Ireland on the situation in Yemen. At the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council last week, The Netherlands pushed for the inclusion of a reference to EU member states' arms sales to Yemen, which should take into account UN human rights obligations and recent reports on the humanitarian situation. Ireland supported this motion. We request committee members to use their authority to encourage the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to raise the issue of Yemen in meetings with his UK counterpart and to strongly condemn the UK’s selling of arms to Saudi Arabia, which is a primary party to the existing conflict. We would welcome the committee recommending that the Minister direct his Department to use its embassy in Saudi Arabia to convene a meeting with his Saudi counterparts to make it clear that Ireland unilaterally condemns the country's devastating bombing campaign in Yemen at the highest level, and to reiterate the need for a comprehensive ceasefire. These are things that Ireland can do. As Ireland campaigns for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2021, we urge the committee to recommend to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that Ireland should support calls for a new UN Security Council resolution that endorses the proposal of the special envoy to Yemen, Mr. Ismaïl Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Lastly, the Yemen donor conference will be held in Geneva on 25 April, hosted by the UN Secretary General and co-hosted by the foreign ministers of Switzerland and Sweden. The objectives of this conference are to raise awareness of critical humanitarian needs in Yemen, to mobilise resources for the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan, to promote respect for international humanitarian law, human rights law and the protection of civilians, and to advocate for an end to hostilities. Attendance at the level of foreign minister is anticipated. We request the committee to urge the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to attend and demonstrate Ireland’s concern on the scale of humanitarian need in Yemen, diplomatically and financially. While peace is the only lasting solution, humanitarian needs continue to increase and escalate, and the funds needed to address these are not being delivered. The 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan is only 7% funded as of 15 March, a couple of weeks ago. While we welcome the Irish Government’s commitment of €4 million in humanitarian assistance to Yemen since 2016, we call on the Minister to work with other international donors. As was mentioned, Ireland can use the influence it has in those donor fora to encourage others to step up and, indeed, Ireland can increase its own level of assistance, because this is the largest humanitarian crisis on the planet right now.

A broader trend in Yemen and the other countries affected by the food crises and conflict which we are discussing is the significant displacement of people. We have spoken to the committee about this in the past. Conflict and famine are forcing an unprecedented number of people from their homes and contributing to the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. There are an estimated 1.1 million internally displaced persons in Somalia and over 1 million Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen. Widespread water shortages and pre-famine conditions in Somalia have increased migration and displacement among those affected by the drought, putting even more pressure on receiving areas. The conflict in Yemen has also meant that thousands of Somalis and Yemenis fleeing the crisis there are now arriving in Somalia, which is buckling under this new burden. It is a country which is already under tremendous stress that is receiving further numbers because of the crisis it is facing, and it goes both ways.

While facilitating the quest for peaceful solutions and funding for humanitarian response are vital in emergencies, the third pillar is to protect those forced to flee by greater global responsibility sharing. The six wealthiest countries in the world continue to host just 9% of the global refugee population.

It is worth reminding members of the committee that 86% of all refugees in the world are hosted in the neighbouring country, usually in a developing country. I think I have mentioned before that in Tanzania, for example, one of the poorest countries of the world, over 250,000 people are being hosted, and that is not even on any radar or being discussed. One can look at a country like Lebanon, which is hosting 1.2 million people, and it is the size of Munster. We have witnessed the systematic and systemic erosion of refugee protection worldwide within the last decade. The response of the EU to this growing displacement crisis has been pitiful. European leaders have introduced increasingly regressive policies that close the door on some of the world’s most vulnerable people. There will be fewer places for refugees to seek protection if these trends continue.

The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, which is a fund created with the aim to address the root causes of instability, forced displacement and irregular management has been touted as a programme that will contribute to good migration management. This is hugely problematic in the context of an increasingly harmful EU migration management strategy, and let us remember the various deals that Europe is doing at the moment, with Turkey, Libya and a number of African countries. It is apparent that the EU trust fund is used for security and border management by states with repressive human rights regimes. As a founding member of the trust and vice chair of the fund’s board, we call on the Irish Government to provide greater clarity on the fund’s activities and to be transparent about those. We would welcome the committee requesting an update from the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade on how Irish funding is being used and how it will ensure that all projects funded with Irish taxpayers' money are compliant with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, development assistance committee, DAC, principles and compatible with international human rights law. There is a real concern that we are having a diversion of aid which is intended to be used to save lives and to protect people to build walls and put people in detention in poor countries. Those forced to flee their homes, be it from South Sudan or Syria, Yemen or Somalia, should be able to access safe and regular routes to Europe to seek asylum from conflict and persecution, as is their human right.

While we welcomed the Government’s commitment to host an increased number of refugees through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, 4,000 refugees were supposed to have been granted protection in Ireland by 2016, yet less than half that number have safely reached our shores to date. We were also alarmed to see legislation enacted soon after this that significantly increased the obstacles for families to be reunited. In the International Protection Act 2015, the definition of the family for the purposes of reunification was narrowed by the Irish Government. This is something that we want to draw attention to. This means that grandparents are separated from their grandchildren, children over 18 are separated from their parents, and elder brothers and sisters are separated from their younger siblings.

In December 2016, the Tánaiste travelled to a refugee camp in Greece and experienced first-hand the testimonies of people fleeing their homes from war-torn and unstable countries. Our team in Greece raised the situation of family reunification with the Tánaiste, emphasising that many people in refugee camps in Greece are desperate to reach their family members in other European countries.

We urgently request that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence host a meeting with their counterparts on the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to assess the progress of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. We also ask that the Committee write to the Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to request an update on the obstacles that are being put in place that prevent safe passage for families to come. The fact that an announcement was made of 4,000 people, which is a small number in the greater scheme of things, was a good step in the right direction and we welcomed it at the time, but progress has been painfully slow.

What we are witnessing is unprecedented. If these crises are left unresolved, malnutrition and deaths will continue to rise. We can stop the worst from happening. It is not too late, but it is getting there very quickly. We need a fully-funded humanitarian response, the resolution of conflict and for Ireland to play whatever role it can in that space, safe and secure access for those that are forced to leave their homes, and greater responsibility sharing by the global north for those in need who are currently languishing in camps in developing countries. Humanitarian agencies cannot do this alone. It will take a combined and collaborative effort and Ireland can and should play a role. We have the credibility globally to do that. We ask members of the committee to use their personal and political weight to join with us and protect these people in the world’s forgotten crises as well as the many situations we have highlighted this morning.