Dáil debates

Tuesday, 2 October 2007

Adjournment Debate

Foreign Conflicts.

8:00 am

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I welcome the time we have, however brief, to discuss the appalling tragedy that is unfolding in Burma. Given the time allotted, I must be succinct and so will offer a set of suggestions. We must establish how many people have died and how many have been injured. We must follow up BBC reports and find out the whereabouts of 4,000 monks who were arrested in Rangoon, removed to two places of detention, disrobed and manacled. It is reported that they are likely to be removed to northern parts of Burma.

We need to move beyond the mantra of the EU and its governments that amounted to a belief in constructive engagement. This meant one could continue to engage with the junta that was practising widespread abuses of human rights while imagining that gradual progress was possible. This policy has not worked, nor have sanctions been imposed by the EU because it is clear that the benefits derived by India, China, Thailand and others involved in the rape of Burma's resources undo any possible effects of such measures.

Up to 800,000 people in Burma may have endured forced labour at some point and there are also issues relating to the forced relocation of people. Ethnic minorities endure appalling treatment and the country has put up its shutters to the rest of the world. In 1988 3,000 people were massacred and most human rights organisations suggested the situation deteriorated again in 1996. Burma behind the Mask, edited by Jan Donkers and Minka Nijhuis, published in 1996, may be the best account, from within, of what took place.

The international community has been silent on Burma and this has been compounded by economic benefits derived by its neighbours. This cannot continue. Facilitating the junta at the Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN, meeting was a miscalculation, though it may have been made for the best of reasons by those who believed in constructive dialogue. The anticipated results have not occurred and I therefore believe that an international group should now be established to visit Burma. The EU should seek permission for a group to visit Burma to establish how many people have died, how many have been injured, how many of the 4,000 monks arrested in Rangoon have been relocated, the details of people who have endured forced labour and the position of the various ethnic and indigenous groups there. The worst that can happen is permission will be refused and that at least means the issue will stay alive.

Photo of Joe CostelloJoe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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We all condemn the appalling scenes we have witnessed in recent days of the use of force by the military junta in Burma-Myanmar in suppressing pro-democracy protests. The brutal regime has terrorised 50 million citizens of Burma for 45 years and a similar popular peaceful protest 20 years ago saw some 3,000 people executed. Nobody knows the true number of deaths in Burma in recent days but Associated Press figures suggest 200 people have been killed and up to 2,000 detained. Thousands of monks have been removed from monasteries and are being detained in areas away from the public arena.

The people of Burma are terrified and this is particularly evident now that the revered monks cannot protest on the streets. The response of the international community has been lethargic and reflects double standards as little more than condemnation and hand-wringing has been forthcoming from major countries in the East and West so far. For example, when strategic geographical and resource interests were involved in the Middle East, the United States was quick to raise the ante and intervene economically, with sanctions, and militarily.

Ireland gave the freedom of its capital city to the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and should be to the fore in demanding urgent action by the EU and world community. We cannot simply condemn yet stand idly by. The United Nations special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was given the run around in recent days as the junta in Burma clearly kept him away from trouble spots and proved unwilling to meet him until a semblance of normality had been restored. The meeting today, a peremptory 15 minutes, was a sham and the hope for dialogue between General Than Shwe and the pro-democracy movement was totally dashed.

The least we can expect from the international community is sustained pressure on China not to veto any UN resolution on this matter. As Deputy Michael D. Higgins said, the EU should promote a special group to visit Burma and inspect conditions.

9:00 am

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputies Higgins and Costello for raising this issue. On behalf of the Government, I welcome this opportunity to comment on the recent events in Burma.

The Government remains gravely concerned at the appalling situation in Burma. The people of Burma have made clear their demands for democracy, national reconciliation and an end to military dictatorship and the Irish Government and people stand firmly behind them. The regime has tried to quell the voices of the monks, nuns and unarmed civilians, peacefully demonstrating on the streets, through bullets, beatings, gassings, widespread arrests and brutal repression. We do not yet know the numbers killed, injured, arrested or missing, and we may never know them precisely. The regime has worked to cut off communications with the outside world in the hope of covering up what it has been doing, but it has not been able to hide the evidence of its brutal regime, nor the strength of discontent and opposition to its rule among the people of Burma.

The Irish Government has long taken a strong position on the situation in Burma. We have spoken out firmly on the issue for many years at the UN General Assembly and in all other appropriate fora. We consistently raise our concerns in meetings with ASEAN and other Asian countries. In international meetings where our Ministers and officials have encountered Burmese Ministers or delegations, we have used the opportunity to make clear, in a forthright manner, the views of the Government and people of Ireland.

Through our Irish Aid programme, we have provided some support for humanitarian causes and for the democratic process. We maintain close links with Burma Action Ireland and the small Burmese community in Ireland, and we provide some support for their activities. We have worked proactively to ensure that Burma remains high among the priorities of the EU and the UN and have supported discussions at the Human Rights Council, at the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

In recent weeks, the Government has stepped up its action in support of the Burmese people. In the early days of the popular demonstrations, on 24 August, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, made a statement calling for the release of key democracy activists, and for the initiation of inclusive dialogue with opposition parties. As the situation intensified, he followed up with a statement on 24 September in support of the demonstrators, and appealed to the regime to exercise restraint, to release all political detainees and to initiate a process of dialogue and national reconciliation. Immediately following the widespread attacks on the unarmed demonstrators on 26 September, he forcefully condemned the use of force and called again for restraint, dialogue and reconciliation.

The Minister also called on ASEAN and other Asian countries, which may exercise influence on the Burmese regime, to do all in their power to protect the people of Burma, to encourage restraint, dialogue and reconciliation and to support the role of the UN and, in particular, an immediate visit to the country by the UN Secretary General's special envoy, Dr. Ibrahim Gambari. He followed up these statements by writing to the Foreign Ministers of China and India, calling for them to use their influence to stop the violence in Burma and encourage positive change. These messages were delivered to the ambassadors of China and India in Dublin and by our ambassadors in Beijing and New Delhi.

At the request of the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, our ambassadors in the ASEAN region have made urgent démarches to the Governments of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Our ambassadors at the UN in New York and Geneva remain active in conveying these messages to Security Council members, ASEAN and Asian neighbours of Burma. We are pleased that these representations have received encouraging responses.

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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He should go to South Africa as well.

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, in his address today to the UN General Assembly in New York, will again highlight our concerns. He is taking every opportunity while at the General Assembly and in Washington to discuss the situation in Burma with the UN Secretary General, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and other leaders.

The situation in Burma is truly deplorable, but we believe that the events of the past few weeks represent a possible turning point. For the first time, ASEAN, as an organisation, has spoken out in condemnation of the brutality of the Burmese regime, expressing its "revulsion" at the violence used against unarmed demonstrators and calling for national dialogue and reconciliation. Similarly, the Government of China — which maintains very close links with the Burmese regime — is working behind the scenes with the military leaders and has spoken out more clearly than ever before in calling not only for calm and stability, but also for reconciliation and democracy.

The significance of these statements and actions of Burma's regional neighbours cannot be underestimated. The immediate effect of the pressure brought to bear on Burma by China and ASEAN countries was the agreement of the regime to grant a visa to UN special envoy, Dr. Gambari, and its agreement to allow him to meet democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. He met today with the junta leader, General Than Shwe, and will meet Ms Suu Kyi again tomorrow, before returning to New York on Thursday, where he is scheduled to brief the Security Council. The Secretary General has advised the Minister, Deputy Ahern, that Dr. Gambari will return to Burma next month.

At the UN Human Rights Council, Ireland actively supported the EU's call for a special session on Burma, which took place today, and delivered a strong national statement. We very much welcome the strong resolution adopted by consensus at the Council today — including, significantly, by Burma's regional neighbours. Among other provisions, the resolution deplores the regime's violent repression of peaceful protestors, calls for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Burma to be fully respected and demands international access to the country to investigate the situation. We believe this sends the clearest of signals to the Burmese regime that the international community is prepared to stand together to ensure that the days of impunity are over. Ireland and our EU partners apply a range of sanctions and restrictive measures to Burma. Options for an extension of sanctions are under urgent consideration. It is expected that EU Ministers will consider this question at the next General Affairs Council on 15 October. A priority for us is to ensure that any new measures are targeted against the regime and do not cause further suffering to the people of Burma.

The Government continues to stand firm with the people of Burma at this time as, I know, do the people of Ireland. We will continue to monitor developments in Burma very closely and to work unrelentingly with EU, the UN and the countries of Asia and to keep the focus of the world on the plight of the people of Burma.

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State consider my proposal that a group from the EU should visit the country?

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I will return to that point.

We will continue to demand that the Burmese military regime desists from further violence against its own people, releases all recent and longer-term detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, initiates inclusive dialogue with the democratic opposition and ethnic minorities, prioritises national reconciliation, and co-operates in full with the UN and the demands of the international community.

I thank the Deputies again for raising these issues and I will convey Deputy Higgins's request to the Minister.

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State.