Dáil debates

Thursday, 27 February 2014

4:25 pm

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this debate and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, for attending to deal with it. The issue concerns the plight of the Rohingya people from Burma. I must confess that, until very recently, it was a plight with which I was not too familiar. In Ireland, since 2009, there have been two communities of Rohingya people in Mayo and in Carlow town. I understand there are 75 to 80 people who were previously the occupants of refugee camps in Bangladesh and who were taken in by Ireland in 2009, having been displaced from their homeland in 1992.

I raise the issue today with the Minister of State and the Department primarily in view of the upcoming census that is due to take place in Burma at the end of March. As I understand it, this census is being partly funded by the European Union and it is the first such measure of population to have taken place in that country for more than 30 years. The estimated population of Burma is 60 million people from 135 different ethnic groups, so there is a huge amount of diversity within the borders of Burma currently. In particular, I want to speak of the plight of the Rohingya people, who are subject to terrible abuses, largely on the basis of their religion but also on the basis of pure ethnicity. The upcoming census is not going to provide them with the opportunity to state their ethnic background. The census forms have been printed and more than 100,000 invigilators have been appointed to cover the population of Burma. However, as I understand it, there are only eight principal ethnic groups to which people can say they belong, when in fact on the ground in Burma there are in excess of 135 different ethnic backgrounds. As a result, there is a great fear that many of the smaller ethnic groups within the country will just not be counted under their ethnic background, and this could have significant implications for them into the future.

I also want to raise with the Minister the ongoing civil rights abuses that are taking place within Burma against the Rohingya people. There was a massacre on 16 February where 16 people were shot in a wooded area on the borders of their homeland, which is near the Burma-Bangladesh border. Has the Minister of State or his senior colleague been in a position to raise the matter of the terrible abuses to which the Rohingya are subjected routinely? They are a peaceful people who simply wish to remain part of their own country. They need some hope for the future. I hope the census, which has been partly supported by the EU, may give an opportunity for the EU to have some input into the crisis that currently exists in that country.

Photo of Joe CostelloJoe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I compliment the Deputy for raising this very important issue. The Government closely follows the situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar-Burma. Recently reported incidents of serious violence against the Rohingya people in Rakhine state, in particular in Du Chee Tan village in January 2014, are deeply worrying. I welcome the announcement made by Myanmar's President, U Thein Sein, on 28 January that there would be an independent investigation into this incident. This investigation was launched on 7 February and is due to conclude at the end of this month.

Ireland's ambassador to Myanmar, based in our embassy in Hanoi, visited Yangon from 20 to 22 January 2014 and attended the monthly EU heads of mission meeting while there, when the situation in Rakhine was discussed. During this latest visit, the ambassador also received updates on the situation in Rakhine from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, and from non-governmental organisations actively working in Rakhine. From 29 January to 1 February 2014, the EU delegation in Myanmar, along with several EU heads of mission, travelled to internally displaced peoples, IDP, camps in Rakhine state to assess the overall situation in the region and get first-hand information by listening to those involved in ongoing communal conflict.

The EU has specifically called on the Government of Myanmar to address the status and welfare needs of the Rohingya people and to take a zero tolerance approach to violent extremism. The EU has also urged Myanmar to permit the establishment of a country office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Since 2007, over €7 million has been provided by Irish Aid to NGOs and Irish missionaries for both long-term development and emergency and recovery responses in Myanmar. In December 2013, the Tánaiste announced an additional programme of funding worth €500,000. The EU is providing around €70 million to the people of Rakhine state. A large share of this assistance is to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of the region.

Ireland through multilateral organisations such as the EU and UN takes every opportunity to raise the plight of the Rohingya people and urge the Government of Myanmar to address humanitarian and human rights issues. At the 23rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in May-June 2013, Ireland and our fellow council members adopted a presidential statement regarding the situation for Muslims in Myanmar. Council members including Ireland expressed deep concern at the gross violations of human rights against Muslims, including the Rohingya community, urged the government there to grant full citizenship rights to the Rohingya in Rakhine and review the discriminatory 1982 citizenship law. At the upcoming 25th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to be held from 3-28 March, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, is due to present a report on the human rights situation in the country. The special rapporteur recently commented that the present situation in Rakhine "represents a particular obstacle and a threat to the reform process".

The Irish Government is also concerned about the issue of Rohingya people forced to leave Myanmar for neighbouring countries. There have been reports of mistreatment of Rohingya in Thailand and elsewhere. The EU has expressed concerns to the ministry of foreign affairs and the national security council in Thailand.

Myanmar continues to undergo a process of long-awaited transition towards full democracy. Ireland, together with our EU partners, recognises that while significant progress has been made, difficult and complex challenges remain. The situation of the Rohingya is one such challenge which requires the care and attention of the international community and the Government of Myanmar. Ireland will continue to utilise our bilateral and multilateral channels to urge the Government of Myanmar to address the human rights situation of the Rohingya, together with other challenges.

4:35 pm

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In fairness, the Minister of State has touched on most of the issues. The issue I really want to highlight and which was brought to my attention is the upcoming census which, if carried out along the lines of what is expected, will not even include a categorisation for the Rohingya people. There are about 2 million people in this population, most of whom do not live within the borders of Burma. Many of them are scattered all over the world, particularly in Bangladesh and Thailand. This census will take place over a 12-day period up until the end of March. I understand it is being at least partly funded by the European Union. The Rohingya will be classified under the heading of "other", which is not a very satisfactory classification given that I have been told there are only eight different classifications of ethnicity in the census when there are 135 different ethnic backgrounds in the country. That is the sense of urgency. I appreciate the Minister of State's view regarding the 1982 citizenship law, which is discriminatory. The Rohingya people are unable to ensure their children are educated and cannot move freely about the country. While many of them are living in refugee camps outside its borders, those who are still in Burma have very restricted lives in terms of movement and the ordinary things we all take for granted. I appreciate the gist of the Minister of State's response about keeping it as a priority, which is to be welcomed, but perhaps there is an opportunity to broaden the classification of different ethnic groups before the first census in 31 years takes place.

Photo of Joe CostelloJoe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for those supplementary remarks. The actual thrust of the Topical Issue made no reference to the upcoming census so I could have better information on that. The census is being carried out in the context of forthcoming elections. As the Deputy mentioned, there has been no census for 30 years and the EU is indeed part funding the taking of the census and the organisation of it.

I will be meeting the ambassador of Bangladesh in the next few days. Certainly it is an issue I can take up with him because many of the Rohingya people are originally from Bangladesh. I will be attending the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday where I will be addressing the council on human rights. In addition, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, will give a special report on human rights at the council so it will be an opportunity to raise it again. I can come back to the Deputy with further information in respect of the specific issue of the census. Indeed, if he wishes to raise a Topical Issue on the census in Myanmar, I would be very happy to come back to the House.