Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“condemns:

— the ongoing violence in Syria which has to date resulted in the deaths of an estimated half a million people, particularly the continued brutal attacks on civilians perpetrated by the Assad regime;

— the blatant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, as identified by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, including the continued use of sieges against civilians, forced displacement under the guise of truces or evacuation agreements, the diversion and denial of humanitarian aid, and the targeting of civilian infrastructure;

— the particularly abhorrent attacks on schools, hospitals and medical personnel which disproportionately affect children, the sick and injured; and

— the utterly barbaric use of chemical weapons against civilians;

and calls on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to:

— continue to support the United Nations (UN) led Geneva talks process, based on the 2012 Geneva communiqué and UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which demands an end to violence, release of political prisoners, formation of a transitional governing body with executive powers and a constitutional reform process;

— continue to work, in European Union and UN frameworks, for an end to the conflict, including through the use of appropriate measures such as targeted sanctions, to put pressure on the Syrian regime to end the violent repression of civilians;

— continue to support efforts to ensure accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Syrian conflict including supporting the investigation and prosecution of the persons responsible;

— continue to press through the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for Syrian compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention; and

— to ensure that Ireland continues to provide appropriate humanitarian aid to relieve the suffering of the people of Syria.”

The situation in Syria is utterly horrifying. This conflict began with ordinary Syrians protesting police brutality against their children. Due to the unyielding and violent response of the regime, it has now continued for six and a half years and has taken an estimated half a million lives. A beautiful and historic country lies in ruins. Inside Syria, more than 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and 3 million are living in besieged hard-to-reach areas. A further 5.5 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries and the wider region.

I take this opportunity to condemn unreservedly the abhorrent violence against civilians, through the use of siege tactics, withholding of humanitarian aid, forced displacement, including under the guise of truces or evacuation agreements, and the targeting of civilian infrastructure including schools, markets and hospitals. These actions are in contravention of international law, international humanitarian law and human rights law. I am particularly horrified that the Assad regime would use chemical weapons against its own people, as recently confirmed by the findings of the joint investigation by the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW.

Those in need in Syria are often cut off from aid, due to shifting front lines, administrative hurdles and violence along access routes and against humanitarian workers. While a number of localised ceasefire initiatives have enabled some temporary aid, those in besieged and hard-to-reach areas are not receiving the regular assistance they desperately need. I call on all parties to lift barriers to humanitarian access, to allow relief to besieged areas and to let humanitarian actors cross conflict lines to deliver relief.

Clearly, a sustainable, peaceful resolution to the conflict is urgently needed and Ireland fully supports the UN-led Geneva process, based on the 2012 Geneva communiqué and UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which demands an end to violence, release of political prisoners, formation of a transitional governing body with executive powers and a constitutional reform process. I commend the efforts of UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. The Geneva process is the only way of achieving an inclusive, sustainable and peaceful resolution to the crisis in Syria. I assure Members that Ireland remains wholly committed to efforts to achieving that outcome.

Sanctions are one tool the international community can use to put pressure on those who commit violence against their own people. The EU sanctions in respect of Syria include an oil embargo, restrictions on investments, a freeze of Syrian central bank assets and export restrictions on equipment and technology which might be used for internal repression or interception of Internet or telephone communications. There are no sanctions on food, medicines or most other civilian goods.

The EU’s basic principles on the use of restrictive measures state:

sanctions should be targeted in a way that has maximum impact on those whose behaviour we want to influence. Targeting should reduce to the maximum extent possible any adverse humanitarian effects or unintended consequences for persons not targeted.

Accordingly, the EU’s Syria sanctions include specific exemptions for essential civilian needs and humanitarian assistance. The EU keeps the impact of sanctions under constant review and will regularly consider options to mitigate any unintended consequences. EU sanctions are not a barrier to the delivery of aid or a cause of civilian suffering.

In addition to these measures, targeted EU sanctions are in place against over 250 people and almost 70 entities complicit in the violent repression of the civilian population in Syria. The first person on this list is Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Ireland has consistently supported EU sanctions targeting the Assad regime and its supporters, and will continue to do so as long as the situation on the ground justifies these measures. I have no wish to see members of the Syrian regime free to travel to the EU while Syrian children live in daily fear of barrel bombs, nor do I wish to see assets held in the EU being used to fuel the conflict. That is what lifting EU sanctions would allow. It would be a signal of indifference to or encouragement of the brutal attacks on civilians which have characterised this conflict.

I would like to put on record the Government’s utter condemnation of the attack in April 2017 on a convoy of buses transporting evacuees from al-Fu'ah and Kafriya in north-west Syria. In a conflict characterised by despicable acts, this attack on fleeing civilians was striking in its callousness. It is extremely difficult to get reliable information on what has happened from contested zones in Syria and even harder to ensure accountability for the many appalling acts committed. Ireland takes all reports of violence against children extremely seriously, and I would invite anyone who may have any concrete information about reports of the kidnapping of 54 children from the scene of the al-Fu'ah and Kafriya attacks to share that information with my Department. Concrete, verifiable information from credible sources is essential if there is to be any follow-up, via those organisations that are mandated to act on missing persons cases.

This conflict will end one day and those who are guilty of crimes against their fellow Syrians must ultimately face justice. Ireland supports efforts on a number of different tracks to ensure full legal accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria. We have consistently called for the referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Ireland supports the independent international commission of inquiry established by the Human Rights Council to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in Syria.

Last December, Ireland and a group of like-minded countries successfully pressed for the adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution to establish an international impartial and independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law in Syria. Ireland has contributed €100,000 to support the work of this mechanism this year.

Ireland is also a strong supporter of the fact-finding mission of the OPCW, which aims to establish facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals, reportedly chlorine, for hostile purposes in the Syrian Arab Republic. Ireland has provided nearly €1 million to support its work since 2014, and a further €200,000 to the OPCW-UN joint investigative mission to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria.

Ireland is also making a significant contribution to the international humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, contributing over €90 million since 2012. This is Irish Aid’s largest response to a single crisis in recent years. Through our annual EU contributions, Ireland also supports the EU’s humanitarian response to the Syria crisis. To date, the EU and its member states have mobilised more than €9.4 billion in assistance to Syrians in the country and to refugees in neighbouring countries. Ireland will continue to prioritise the protection of civilians, particularly the most vulnerable of these, including children, in our response to the Syria crisis. I call on the House to support this amendment.

See this speech in context