Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Howlin raised this issue earlier. We have a dual responsibility to show solidarity with Poland, but also with Lithuania and Latvia which have been targeted. We also have an international and moral obligation to ensure that the welfare of migrants is protected, as it should be under international law. That is difficult to do when migrants are being effectively bussed in a tactical way to try to create as much tension as possible, which essentially is what is happening here. Migrants are being flown from parts of the world such as Syria and Iraq into Minsk and then bussed to border areas where that process can create tension. Unfortunately, migrants are the victims of that. On Monday, I stated that the more we can internationalise this problem and have independent observers better explaining what is happening and NGOs to support migrants, the better. We also have to recognise the pressure that EU countries are under in the context of 15,000 to 20,000 migrants being bussed to a border.

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