Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this matter. I hope we will be able soon to address this issue substantively at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs in the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Our next meeting is a select committee one and after that we have other business. However, I hope that in a fortnight's time we might be able to accommodate a substantive discussion because many of the issues will not wait, in particular the vulnerability of children and the civilian population in the province of Vanni in northern Sri Lanka.

Many civilians have lost their lives since 2006 when the 2002 ceasefire brokered by the Norwegian Government fell apart. At least 7,000 people have been killed and more than 300,000 have been displaced. This long running conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers is one for which an incredible price has already been paid in terms of loss of life and displacement.

An immediate unconditional ceasefire is necessary, as is an acceptance by both sides that there is no military solution to the conflict and that there is a need to return to the circumstances of the 2002 agreement and ceasefire. That ceasefire was achieved on the basis of mutual respect and parity of esteem. The tragic part of all of this is that the Tamil Tigers are suggesting to their civilian population, in particular children, that they must not move out of the area which they are in. Where they have moved into government controlled areas, they have been subjected to aerial bombing and immense loss of life. Civilians are at risk and have died in the area regarded as government controlled, which is unsustainable. However, they are also at risk in the Tamil controlled areas.

Another aspect which is very worrying is that the international press does not have access to the zones of conflict. For example, organisations as different as CNN and al-Jazeera are not able to cover what is taking place. Perhaps more importantly, some time ago all humanitarian agencies other than the International Red Cross and the United Nations World Food Programme were expelled from the areas. The international community cannot see the conflict in its totality and the humanitarian agencies cannot go where they are most needed.

What is needed at this stage and the reason I appreciate the opportunity to raise this matter is for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to join with the German and the British foreign ministers to seek to have this matter addressed immediately at UN level and at EU foreign minister level to try to create circumstances where an unconditional and an open-ended ceasefire could come into being. In raising this matter, I express my gratitude to those citizens in Ireland who have addressed this issue, in particular the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka which contacted me. I hope the Minister of State will communicate with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and regard this matter as urgent so that we put an end to the loss of life and the great vulnerability of the children in question.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Minister for Foreign Affairs sends his apologies for being unable to attend to take the matter.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has made clear the Government's deep concern at the plight of the war-ravaged Tamil population in the north of Sri Lanka who are the innocent victims of the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the rebel LTTE, or the Tamil Tigers. Large numbers of men, women and children have been subjected to indiscriminate bombardment by government forces while there is evidence that the Tamil Tigers have been blocking their escape giving rise to allegations that they are using the civilians as human shields. A report from UNICEF yesterday also confirms that the LTTE has intensified forcible recruitment of civilians and that children as young as 14 years old are now being targeted, thus placing their lives at great risk. UNICEF also expresses its extreme alarm at the high number of children being injured in the fighting. I fully endorse its demand that all civilians, especially children, must be given every protection from the fighting.

Through our ambassador in New Delhi, we have made urgent humanitarian representations on behalf of all the innocent people who are suffering there, not failing to remember also the small religious communities who find themselves tragically caught in a conflict which is not of their making but from which they cannot escape. The blatant disregard for the lives of innocent civilians which has been the norm since the intensification of the conflict over the past two months represents a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE should agree to an immediate ceasefire. The priority would be to allow unrestricted access to the affected areas by the emergency services, including the ICRC and other humanitarian organisations, so that aid and supplies can be delivered as quickly as possible and that the sick and injured can be evacuated. However, a short term temporary ceasefire is not enough. Although the Sri Lankan Government now seems close to a military victory, a lasting peace settlement will require reconciliation and a political process aimed at protecting the interests of all Sri Lankan citizens and enshrining the principle of parity of esteem among its divided communities.

To this end, the international community should continue to exercise as much pressure as possible. The Minister for Foreign Affairs will attend Monday's meeting of the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council, which will issue important conclusions on the conflict in Sri Lanka. We hope that an EU Troika visit to the country at ministerial level will take place shortly to convey the EU's very serious concerns about the conflict and the humanitarian situation in the country. The Commission has also initiated an examination of whether the Government of Sri Lanka has breached the terms of the human rights provisions in the EU's GSP Plus trade agreement with Sri Lanka.

At the national level, Ireland has consistently taken every opportunity to call for meaningful peace talks and an end to all violence and human rights violations. Consultations with other governments, including with the Government of Norway, which acted as the central facilitator of the ceasefire agreement before it collapsed in January last year, will continue. If the relevant parties seek any advice in regard to a negotiated peace process, we would give consideration as to how we could best help.

Since 2005, the Government has provided, through Irish Aid, more than €5.3 million for humanitarian and development activities in Sri Lanka. In addition, more than US$12 million was allocated from the UN's central emergency response fund to Sri Lanka during 2008. Ireland is currently the seventh largest donor to this fund.

In addition to unearmarked funding to the Red Cross, one of the key organisations at the centre of the response to the humanitarian crisis, Irish Aid is monitoring closely the humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and the provision of emergency funding is under consideration. I will convey the Deputy's views directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.