Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to concentrate on what is the biggest crisis since the Second World War and on the response of the European Union and the Government to it. The International Organization for Migration, IOM, estimates that between the beginning of 2016 and 25 April, a total of 196,325 emigrants and refugees have arrived in Europe, mostly by sea. This is a huge number of people who have landed in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. During the same period, 1,359 people died or were lost at sea. That number is the size of the population of an average small town and the IOM estimates that, last year, more than 1 million people arrived. One core response to this humanitarian crisis has been the EU-Turkey agreement. Sinn Féin has been clear and has criticised this agreement. It is against and has spoken out against this agreement and I have raised it here many times with the Taoiseach since it was brought into being. Turkey is a country with a deplorable human rights record and a history of discriminating against minorities. As it is clear that Turkey is not a safe country of origin, the European Union should not be deporting vulnerable people to that place. Human Rights Watch has stated the deportations that already have occurred were rushed, chaotic and violated the rights of those deported. Oxfam has accused the EU of trading human beings for political concessions. Here is the rub. The Government went along with this measure. This is not something distant that is happening away over there; the Government agreed to it.

The Government announced the plan to take in 4,000 refugees and Sinn Féin supported this measure. However, only a handful of people, a family of ten, have been relocated in this State under this scheme with 31 people expected to arrive in the coming weeks. In the North, as part of our involvement in the British Government's vulnerable persons relocation scheme, 108 people have been relocated. While I do not wish to compare these two states on the island, there is a disparity. It is not good enough in that 51 people came last December, while 75 arrived in the Six Counties at the end of April. There are more to come and arrangements have been made for the next group to arrive in the coming months. However, the response of the State and the EU in the face of this major appalling human tragedy has been disgraceful. Given our history and our memory of coffin ships and of forced exile, the Government's response is shameful. It is much like the ongoing treatment of citizens in direct provision across the State. These men, women and children are fleeing devastating war and oppression to get asylum in the EU and yet, with smiles and handshakes, the EU has decided that vast numbers of them will be sent back to Turkey. The Government should demand that the EU agreement with Turkey be suspended. I appeal to the Taoiseach to do this. We should continue to press for real support for the humanitarian work that is being carried out in refugee camps. We also should increase urgently the relocation of refugees here and should continue the work for humanitarian solutions. The people, the ordinary citizens, are much further ahead than the Government in this regard as there have been 800 pledges to the Irish Red Cross to house incoming refugees. More than 60% of these were offers to share accommodation, while 30% offered vacant houses and apartments.

I will conclude by noting that another consequence of the EU's deal with Turkey is that people are starting once again to attempt to cross from Libya to Italy, which is a much more dangerous sea journey than is the journey from Turkey to Greece. Members should think about how in this month alone the United Nations has estimated that 500 people have drowned. That is going on and tomorrow it will be more, while the day after that it will be more again. I welcome the work of the Irish naval vessels and commend the men and women who work these vessels. They are a credit to the service and I welcome in particular the deployment of the LE Róisín, which was sent there at the beginning of May. On 16 May, its crew rescued 365 people who were in difficulties, which is wonderful work. However, I warn that we should have no part in the military actions that are being contemplated, such as the destruction of boats. No such action should be part of our remit and instead we should do what these men and women have done so well, namely, to save people on these difficult and dangerous journeys. I ask the Taoiseach to raise these concerns, which are shared by many other Members of the Dáil and within the EU itself. I appeal to the Taoiseach to demand that the EU agreement with Turkey be suspended.

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