Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This week's summit has a wide agenda but few substantive decisions to consider. It is more a summit about reflecting on problems than tackling them. Part of this is inevitable because of the state of uncertainty which the European Union will be in until there is some idea about what future relations with the United Kingdom will look like. Beyond this important fact, there is unfortunately also the reality of other issues being allowed to drift because of division and a lack of solidarity.

The first item on the agenda is the ongoing migration crisis in the Mediterranean. Monday night's documentary was a powerful reminder that our absolute priority must be the humanitarian duty to help those desperately in need. In "The Crossing" we all saw the magnificent work of members of our Naval Service. We should be immensely proud of them and their continuing the tradition of Óglaigh na hÉireann in representing us all as part of an international community. Having helped more than 15,000 people, their mission is clearly an absolutely essential one which we must continue to support. Every one of the people helped has a personal story of why they would undertake such a dangerous and desperate journey. There is no single cause of this migration and there is no single answer to it. Fundamentally, though, there is a common thread of escaping danger or intractable poverty. Different types of repression, including rising fundamentalism, are bringing different societies beyond crisis point. Europe does not realistically have the capacity or the resources to provide the stability and opportunity which these societies need. However, there is much more it can do. Currently, Syria's development aid is limited and we have no strategy equal to the scale of the challenge. More and more resources are being directed to managing the impact of migration and relatively little to addressing the core causes.

It is long past time for a more urgent and ambitious strategy to deal with the causes of large-scale migration on the southern and eastern Mediterranean. We cannot realistically have a policy of no control of migration but we can and should have a more generous approach to help those who may believe that leaving their homes is their only option. In north Africa, the current development agreements are small and not fit for purpose. What we need is effectively a Marshall aid plan for north Africa but what we have is little more than a sticking plaster.

The situation in respect of Syrian refugees is even more serious because the entire crisis is directly caused by the actions of certain states. We are nowhere near providing refugees with the basic facilities required for camps in the region. Without these, they will continue to seek refuge elsewhere. The people of Syria want to live in their own communities in peace and freedom. They are not what are termed "economic migrants". They are refugees from a cruel and still-escalating conflict. The root of this conflict is a regime that will not recognise the human rights of the Syrian people and a world power which has decided that it must use its extraordinary military muscle to defend non-democratic regimes.

ISIS is a barbaric group which has waged genocidal war against Christians and many Muslim groups in the region. It has no legitimacy and defeating the group should be a focus for international co-operation. However, one country has decided that its priority should be to aid the Syrian regime to destroy democratic opposition and to terrorise millions of people into submission. ISIS is not in Aleppo, yet large sections of that city have been blanket bombed with critical civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals, repeatedly and deliberately targeted. It is a sad reflection on current realities that many parties and politicians in different countries are eager to turn a blind eye to this. If they react at all, it is to try to down play specific responsibility and to search for the quickest way to return to the anti-western rhetoric which is their core business.

We should note Russia's stated intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The reason is to avoid being accountable to the only international body capable of holding people responsible for war crimes. The fact that Ireland is the only country in the world which has written co-operation with the ICC into its constitution is something of which we should be proud and we should be a voice defending the role of the court. Syria is part of the wider crisis in relations with Russia and therefore part of what has to be discussed at this summit. We should be alarmed at the current push by some countries to legitimise what can only be described as constant aggression by Russia.

Let us be clear about what is going on. For a number of years Russia has seen its interest in undermining public faith in democracy as a system. It has been an active supporter of extreme right and left parties in many European countries. For example, it has close ties to the neo-Nazi Jobbik party in Hungary, the Freedom Party of Austria and the Golden Dawn party in Greece. It has provided an acknowledged loan of €9 million to support the sinister National Front party in France. Nigel Farage has long played a starring role in the Russian state-controlled media. On the far left, many parties are directly linked with Russia, including the communist parties in Sinn Féin’s European Parliament group, while many more politicians are at the least fellow travellers. The coalition of interest between the far right and far left is, as it has always been, directed against the democratic centre. We can see this in the non-stop attempt to avoid criticising Russian actions and claims that this is really the fault of others. The recent campaign to support Mr. Trump by undermining his opponent for president should cause us all to stop for a moment and consider the scale of the threat now being targeted against democracy. I find it incredible that we can hear voices in this House raging angrily against Mr. Trump but remaining silent on the undeniable campaign to assist him.

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