Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome members of the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka, who are present in the Visitors Gallery today. I thank them for their vital work in continuing to keep us abreast of the horrific conditions in Sri Lanka and international developments.

In 2009 the Sri Lankan Government defeated the Tamils with much brutality. That brutality has continued since then through the occupation by 160,000 Sinhalese soldiers in the northern province which has only 1 million inhabitants. I believe this shows that in some ways the war continues.

Is the Minister aware that since the end of the war there have been widespread reports of violence, physical and sexual, against women by soldiers in some of the occupied areas and also throughout the rest of Sri Lanka, the destruction of Hindu temples and land grabs?

The Minister acknowledged a new government and a supposed new approach. Will he raise, or has he raised, concerns regarding those issues with the Sri Lankan Government and the Sri Lankan ambassador to Ireland?

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