Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State. My Adjournment matter relates to the need for the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to make a statement on the need for the former Camp Liberty in Iraq to be recognised as a refugee camp under the UN flag and his willingness to pursue at EU level the resettlement of refugees from Camp Ashraf in Iraq to EU countries. Since the Minister of State's reply might make reference to it, I am aware that the group involved in Camp Ashraf forms part of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, PMOI, which was designated as a terrorist organisation more than 15 years ago. I am aware that the United States bombed these camps on at least one occasion and also that the National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI, has taken a case in the United States, with the US Court of Appeals giving the Secretary of State four months to determine the position and whether a group opposed to Iran should be removed from the list of foreign terrorist organisations. It has been indicated that if the Secretary of State fails to take action within four months, the petition for a writ of mandamus setting aside the foreign terrorist organisation designation will be granted. It is clear that the courts were far from satisfied with the failure to back up the designation which was granted when Dr. Condoleezza Rice was Secretary of State.

Following the attacks by Iraqi forces on Ashraf, in which 47 people were killed and over 1,000 injured, an agreement was signed at the end of 2011 between the United Nations and Iraq to relocate the residents inside the country before allowing the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, to carry out its refugee determination process to transfer them to third countries. The people within the camps were encouraged, as part of an attempt to find a peaceful solution, to transfer to Camp Liberty, which was agreed to, despite the legal right to stay in Ashraf.

Ashraf residents have movable and immovable properties because they have been there for a considerable number of years and these properties are estimated to be worth over €500 million. They were built and obtained through their own efforts and with their own money, yet Iraq does not allow them to sell them in Iraq or transfer them to another country. Camp Liberty does not meet humanitarian and human rights standards. There is a heavy presence of armed forces and vehicles, a lack of freedom of movement, a serious shortage of infrastructure such as water, electricity and sewerage systems, and also a lack of necessary facilities for the disabled and the elderly. All of these facilities are available in Camp Ashraf, provided at the residents' own expense. Iraq justifies these restrictions under the pretext that Camp Liberty is a temporary transit location.

Only last week a committee of the European Parliament refused to meet a high level delegation from Iraq because it included the commander involved in the camps. There is international recognition of the issue. While condemning violations of the Iranian dissidents' rights in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty, there is a real need for the United Nations and the United States to compel Iraq to stop imposing inhumane restrictions on residents, particularly preventing them from selling or transferring properties. The United Nations and the UNHCR must recognise Camp Liberty as a refugee camp. I am asking that we play our part in achieving this. The matter also covers the resettlement of people from Camp Ashraf who do not want to move to Camp Liberty because of what has happened there, the conditions in which people live and the risk to them. Apart from whether one subscribes to their political beliefs, it is important from a humanitarian perspective that we are seen to play our part in this regard. I, therefore, ask that Ireland play its part in having other countries in the European Union accept refugees from Camp Ashraf.

It is important to state the leadership of the resistance movement has responded to allegations that there are weapons at Camp Ashraf by saying it would support a call on the American State Department and the Department of Defense to task the US military with immediately inspecting Camp Ashraf with necessary equipment and announcing the findings. In other words, it would welcome independent verification by the United States that there are no weapons in the camp.

I attended a rally the group held in Paris over the weekend. A former UN official who was personally involved and left the service because of qualms of conscience about this issue indicated that the UN base in Iraq and Baghdad had falsified documents on the conditions at Camp Liberty in order to meet the requirements of those above who wanted more favourable pronouncements and assessments of the camp. That is appalling, although it is a separate issue.