Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta fá choinne an cheist seo a ardú. The EU emergency trust fund for Africa was launched in November 2015 at the EU-Africa summit on migration in Valletta, as a response to the development challenges in migrants' home countries. These challenges are mainly in the Lake Chad - Sahel region, the Horn of Africa and North Africa. The fund is an important element of a wider EU approach to tackling the root causes of instability, forced displacement and irregular migration in these regions of Africa. This also includes a new partnership framework between the EU and Africa which to date is focusing on finalising migration compacts with a number of countries and a new ambitious external investment plan. The trust fund is implemented through establishing economic programmes that create employment opportunities, supports resilience in terms of food security, livelihoods and basic services for local populations, improves migration management, including by combatting human trafficking and smuggling and supports improvements in overall governance.

Ireland’s commitment of €3 million to the trust fund over the period 2016-20 is earmarked for the Horn of Africa region, which includes Irish Aid partner countries Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. It also includes Eritrea. To date no proposals specific to Eritrea have been approved under the trust fund. There are serious concerns about human rights violations in Eritrea, which the Deputy referred to, and which are highlighted in the latest report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea. Ireland has consistently condemned these violations at the UN Human Rights Council and in EU discussions. A policy of non-engagement, however, can often inhibit progress and lead to more suffering for the vulnerable groups that could benefit most from development assistance. In line with this, any EU development funding to Eritrea is based on key principles of engagement, notably on improvements in human rights.

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