Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Yesterday approximately 120 Afghans protested outside Leinster House. They were recently refused asylum in the State and they are now asking the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for leave to remain on humanitarian grounds. Many of them were opponents of the Taliban regime. On what basis is this cruel decision being made leading to them being threatened with deportation? Is it on the basis that Afghanistan is a supposed democracy, when everybody knows it is a war-torn zone? The past two months have been the bloodiest since the American invasion in 2001. Warlords rule large parts of the country with no respect for human rights or democracy. Women are routinely forced behind the burqa. Amnesty International states that those guilty of human rights abuses are entrenched in positions of power in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a country where the United States Central Intelligence Agency runs some of its so-called "black sites", the secret prisons. Afghans and people from many other countries are snatched and incarcerated in these American gulags with no legal process or protection.

It is to the eternal shame of the Government that the same airplanes that have carried out those kidnappings have been allowed to use Shannon Airport as a facility. It is incredible that the Government accepts assurances from the United States Secretary of State, the person who——

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