Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 November 2003

Humanitarian Issues in Post-War Iraq: Statements.

 

After the 1991 Gulf War, I visited, on behalf of the Red Cross, the Kurdish refugee camps in the Turkish-Iranian mountains. I was delighted that Irish aid got to the Iranian border. The Iranians, however, were never given enough credit for what they did for the Kurds at the time, considering their own problems with them. At least in this war there has not been the same dislocation of the population and not as many refugees to be dealt with. I hope the Minister of State sends the contributions to UNICEF and UNFPA. Senator Michael Kitt referred to his conversations with Mr. David Hogan who works in Iraq. Ireland had a large number of people working in the PARC hospital until the first Gulf War. Is it possible to contact some of them to inquire of people in Baghdad, in particular, that could deal with the small scale operations that we, when giving aid, are so good at?

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