Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss an issue concerning Africa in this House. We have few enough opportunities to do so despite the great interest of Members in issues pertaining to Africa, including that of development, and also the great interest of the Irish people in such issues. I commend Deputy Barry Andrews on his initiative in organising the very important meeting of the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa, AWEPA, on 20 November, which was attended by 20 Oireachtas Members. Very important first-hand accounts of what is happening in Zimbabwe were presented.

The circumstances in Zimbabwe are an unfolding tragedy and the details thereon have been outlined to the House by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The nation's anguish is noted by all the people of Ireland. Ireland has no colonial baggage and has an interest in development and therefore has particular responsibility within the European Union and among the international community to speak in a very straightforward manner on this issue.

I speak as the chairman of the Irish section of AWEPA, which has a proud and honourable tradition of supporting the liberation movement in Zimbabwe since its inception. I visited Zimbabwe in its very early days and it was then the cradle of hope. I met President Robert Mugabe and the then Speaker of the Parliament, Didymus Mutasa, and we had great hope. These figures were the models who were to show how a new democratic Africa could be developed and they helped to export the liberation struggle to the neighbouring front-line states. They were pivotal in bringing an end to apartheid in South Africa. It is absolutely unacceptable that this potential has been squandered and that the regime of Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe, which is now waging war on its people, should go without answer. We therefore have a great responsibility to adopt a position in defence of the people of Zimbabwe.

I welcome the united effort of this House to take a stand. It is important our Government is represented at the EU-Africa summit to confront, without the baggage of history, the despotic leader of Zimbabwe and to state the position of the Irish people directly to him. That cannot be done through abstention. I regret the British Prime Minister, who has done so much to put Africa on the international agenda, particularly the G8 agenda, and who has driven the economic reforms to try to clear African debt, will not be there. My colleague, Deputy Michael D. Higgins, is quite right in that the entire continent of Africa requires focus and we cannot avoid taking the actions needed due to the absence of an individual.

What is the methodology to be used? The traditional AWEPA way is to build consensus across European Parliaments and to have a common alliance for democracy. I hope this motion is the beginning of that process. It will be replicated in other parliaments across the European Continent and, I hope, in the European Parliament. I hope we can unite in democratic action to assist.

I mention the requirements on the neighbours of Zimbabwe to take action. The action, in particular, of the dominant nation in southern Africa, South Africa, is critically important. South Africa is not only an economic powerhouse in the region but it exerts real influence on Zimbabwe. I hope that through our diplomatic efforts, we exhort the President of South Africa to use the influence of that nation on Zimbabwe. The South Africans know of the flood of refugees crossing their border on a daily basis fleeing oppression in Zimbabwe. It is critically important they take a stand. Most of us are disappointed at the temerity of the South African approach to this issue to date. There is a notion that there is quiet diplomacy. Quiet diplomacy is often important but it must be at least robust beneath the surface and impactive.

The reception Robert Mugabe got at the SADC conference in August, at which he got a standing ovation, was mentioned. It is a pity many of the positive things that emerged from that conference in Lusaka, such as development issues, free movement of people and trade in the area, were dwarfed by the media focus on Zimbabwe simply because one individual got a standing ovation. It is depressing for those of us who have been friends of Africa for a very long time, and who hope to be friends for a lifetime, to see a despot like Mugabe being greeted in that fashion. However, that is the African way and they respect a head of state, particularly one from a nation which has been so pivotal in building the liberation movement across southern Africa.

It is time for the nations of Africa to listen to their friends. The Irish do not have baggage in this regard. It is important to state that because it is simple for the Mugabe regime to dismiss British or French criticism as a sort of post-colonial continuing repression. We have none of that baggage and, therefore, we have unique authority to demand and support change in the democratic structures in Zimbabwe.

The chair of the eminent advisory board of AWEPA, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has been very courageous in his denunciation of what has happened in Zimbabwe. I hope his lead will be followed by many other eminent South Africans and that we listen to the voice of people such as the Zimbabwean human rights lawyer, Otto Saki, who spoke to Members of this House at a meeting a fortnight ago and urged us to take action. Let us be united in this House and clear in our message that we want democratic changes in Zimbabwe, that we demand the rule of law and that the principles of democracy and human rights are applicable to all nations and peoples and that Ireland will be to the vanguard in ensuring that comes about.

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