James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. The unprecedented level of migrants and refugees fleeing war-torn parts of the Middle East and north Africa represents a huge crisis for Europe, which faces a great test of its practicality, morality and humanity. A huge number of people are continue to die as they flee these war-torn areas on boats in full knowledge of the risks. They feel they have no other opportunity to live and survive. It is a sign of pure and absolute desperation. Fianna Fáil believes this country must work with its colleagues in the EU and the international community to bring an end to the civil war that is destabilising Syria and generating this refugee crisis. Ireland should support a significant expansion of aid to refugees in camps in the Middle East, specifically by advocating the release of further EU funding for this purpose. We believe the Irish funding being provided for this purpose should be doubled to €1.2 million. Ireland should stand with other countries in fighting against the extremists who are using this crisis to promote fear and distrust within groups. We think this country should insist that Europe remains true to its democratic and inclusive values. It has been highlighted that the people about whom we are speaking are not immigrants. Most of them do not want to come to Europe, as they would prefer to stay in their home countries. Many of them had businesses and farms. Some have lost family members. They should be supported in every possible way so that they can survive.

A few weeks ago, I travelled to the occupied Palestinian Territories with my colleague, Deputy Troy. We spent a considerable amount of time meeting UN and EU officials. We also met representatives of Al-Haq and similar organisations that are dealing with the abuse of prisoners. We met families whose homes have been knocked down or who have been thrown out of their homes. We met farmers who are not even allowed to take stones from their land so that they can grow crops for their families and be productive. It was disturbing to stand in a field where one could barely grow enough food for a family. When I looked over the brow of the hill, I could see a neighbouring field that was as lush as any field in Ireland. This can be attributed to the human rights abuses that are being suffered by the Palestinian people as a result of the actions of the Israeli Government. When we visited a radio station that had just been set up, we were told it was set up because the two previous radio stations were raided and had their equipment confiscated because the Israeli Government did not appreciate something that was said on those stations.

When we were in Hebron, we visited an Israeli Defence Forces checkpoint. At that point, we did not realise the exact purpose of our visit to this particular area. The young Israeli soldiers were not happy to see us. They refused to allow us to enter for a considerable amount of time. It was only when we got through the checkpoint that we realised they had a fear of letting us through because the location where a Palestinian soldier had been executed, in effect, by the Israeli Defence Forces a few days previously, as we all saw on the news, was at the other side. When we visited the Hebron ghost town, we could see the phenomenal sight of what had been a busy street of Palestinian shops but has now been completely shut down. It was most disturbing to observe the despondency among young Palestinian human rights lawyers. It is when people have little or no hope that times are most dangerous.

I raise these issues in relation to Palestine because when I believe refugee situations are created when human rights violations are allowed to take place and humans are devalued because they do not concord with the dominant military force in any particular area. It is in such circumstances that people need to flee. It was clear from every Palestinian I met that they want to stay in their home territories. They want to develop businesses and the economy. They want a nation they can take pride in.

By way of illustration, wood is a dual-use product in Israel. This means the Palestinians cannot import a plank of wood without the prior permission of the Israeli Government because in its view that plank could be used as a weapon. As a result of this, the Palestinians are unable to repair buildings that have been destroyed, including water factories, and they now have to import water from Israel.

I implore the Government to support the UN ban on imports from companies that use products from the occupied territories. All of the groups I met in Palestine continually emphasised that this is effective. Israeli companies often use companies in Europe as a front. Companies that import products from occupied territories often cease doing so once this issue has been highlighted. It is critical that this continues.

We will not solve the refugee crisis without first addressing the human rights abuses of people in these areas. In the meantime, refugees fleeing murder, mayhem and persecution must be provided with safe travel. Parents who are prepared to put their young children onto a boat on their own out of desperation are not people seeking to emigrate, they are refugees fleeing a crisis and they must be protected. Ireland needs to do more. It is important that people resettled here do not experience racism. We are lucky in that no right wing anti-immigrant or anti-refugee party has gained ground here, although there are elements of racism here. Individuals are experiencing racism on a daily basis. We have seen some nasty evidence of that. We must show leadership on this issue and ensure that all aspects of racism is stamped out. It should not be acceptable in any way, shape or form.

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