Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is no bias in the way in which we approach human rights issues. We regard human rights as universal and want them to be applied in an even-handed way. I am greatly concerned by the decision of the Bahraini Government to revoke the citizenship of 31 activists, including former Members of Parliament. This renders some of those concerned stateless and deprives them of their most basic rights. The decision will only serve to deepen divisions and tensions in Bahraini society.

With regard to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, it has commented publicly on numerous occasions on the case of the Bahraini medics and urged the Bahraini Government to withdraw the sentences and release the medics. It has also written to the King of Bahrain asking him to drop the charges against them. It has appeared before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs to answer questions from members about its activities. It is important to distinguish between the involvement of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in the training of Bahraini medical personnel, which is entirely positive, and the detention of medical personnel by the Bahraini authorities. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is a private third level institution and its approach has been governed by its role as an education provider and its responsibility to its 900 plus students. I also note that the RCSI campus is the one place where Sunni and Shia students are educated together. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland strives to place the focus on educational excellence, not on ethnic difference. It has also been forthright in urging the Bahraini Government to exercise clemency in the case of imprisoned medics.

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