Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is deeply disturbing that, more than 100 years since the start of the First World War, nothing seems to have changed. The big game still plays out. There are different views of history, but Britain's fear of Russia moving south to cut off the former's access to the east was one of the factors that created the conditions that led to the lunacy of the First World War. Russia is again extending south, this time into Syria, and carrying out what can only be described as war crimes in the city of Aleppo. I read that, ironically, Ms Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, called today for European unity at the European Council in response. I am unsure as to what response can be made militarily. The problem with western and Russian intervention in the Middle East for the past 100 years has been that we have resorted to military means. Throughout that period, this was done in American, Russian, French and British interests rather than in the interests of the region's Arab people.

Most historians assess, and we in Ireland are in a unique position to do this, the seeds of the problem as having stemmed from the period after the First World War when the promise of Arab national rule, similar to the promise of Home Rule that we were given, was dashed with the creation of the Sykes-Picot agreement. It divvied up the region, with France getting Syria and Britain getting Iraq. Britain wanted the oil. The French only realised afterwards that they had done a bad deal and the British had got the better wells. This sounds trite and simple, but it is the underlining problem with how the region has been dealt with - that is the only way to put it - over the past 100 years.

With the increased importance of oil in the 20th century and the ability of oil reserves to fund armaments and military development, the likelihood of Britain, America and elsewhere going to war in places such as Iraq to protect their oil interests is an underlying factor in what has destabilised and destroyed the country and people of Syria. It is the deepest tragedy. Although there are complex issues in Syria in terms of the civil war and the various factions, there is an underlying truth in that the West is looking after its interests in the region over a protracted period has laid the foundations for the tragedy we are seeing today.

What are we to do? In fairness to the Army, we are in the Golan Heights on a difficult mission. When other countries pulled out, we were willing to place ourselves on the front line of peacekeeping. We should commend our soldiers and continue with the work that we have done over the years in terms of trying to provide that neutral United Nations presence on the ground. However, we must go further. As other Deputies have mentioned, we are increasingly looking over our shoulders in terms of our own economic interests, for example, instead of looking back to our country's roots and traditions and to a time when we had a sense of affinity with Arab nationalism, be it expressed in Ba'athist nationalism or as an Islamic movement.

Given our history, our tendency is generally to remain neutral in this most complex of areas. In some instances, however, we must stand up for certain rights while being neutral. We must stand up for the rights of those in Palestine, the Gaza Strip and, in particular, the West Bank who are being treated in the most despicable manner and who need friends, allies and recognition. We should sometimes be willing to risk our short-term economic interests by saying the brave and difficult thing in support of the Palestinian people.

We should step up to the plate and accept refugees from Syria in larger numbers and with greater urgency. Friends of mine have visited the refugee camps in Greece. They are pulling their hair out in despair wondering why they can walk down a pier in Piraeus and meet the finest people one could meet, people who would be a significant addition to this country and who are clearly declaring that they would like to move here, have good reasons for doing so, can speak English and can be of benefit to the country, yet those people are not being allocated places here or being processed in due time. One can only suspect that a lesson is being meted out to refugees in Syria to the effect that they should not come across the Aegean Sea or else they will be stuck on a pier living in a tent for a year, two years, three years or Lord knows how long it will take us to get those people out of that horrible situation. We should be standing up for our tradition. We should be Samaritans in this moment and be willing to accept refugees far more quickly than we have been doing heretofore.

We should remain neutral and not equate Islam with terrorism, which so many other countries seem willing to do. I am glad that we have not gone down the French route. My God, but they have a tradition of many years in the context of the Syrian crisis. For them to make this equation because of their burkini and hijab disputes is a fundamental mistake and we should avoid making such an error. It would not be fair. Islam has good and peaceful exponents as well as people who follow a terrorist path. We have shown our own ability to act as terrorists over the years. We are not exactly as white as the driven snow when it comes to setting off bombs around the world.

We must stand up for Irish citizens in Egyptian prisons. We need to be willing to talk trade, give up trade or use whatever leverage we have to say, for example, that it is not right for a 17 year old boy to be in prison for three years. This should be the case regardless of whether he is an Irish citizen, but because he is an Irish citizen, we have all the more an obligation to stand up for basic rights. We should not take positions on the Arab Spring fight one way or the other. We should just stand up for what is proper and what every legal court, including an Egyptian one, would agree, namely, that someone should not be kept in prison for two, three or four years without a fair trial. We should stand up for such people. All parties and countries would recognise that as justice.

We should send aid and do whatever we can to support those in Aleppo. Our aid agencies have a proud record. Some have run into controversies in recent times, especially in Syria, but we should continue our support and increase our overseas aid. The dramatic ongoing reduction in overseas aid as a percentage of GDP does not reflect where we should be placing ourselves on this matter.

If we are serious about helping people in Aleppo, we must be willing to give the necessary moneys for that purpose. We are not doing that, however, and it was not done in the budget. That needs to change.

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