Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Walsh for his concern and the efforts he has made consistently to highlight the plight of the Christian minority in the Middle East and in other parts of the world.The Government is in no doubt that Christian communities in many parts of the Middle East, especially in areas facing the rise of extremist groups such as Daesh, have been the victims, as the Senator said, of appalling crimes, including murder, sexual violence, enslavement and forced conversions. The Government has repeatedly condemned crimes that have been committed against many religious minority communities, including Christians.

Ireland, in conjunction with 57 other states, sponsored a resolution calling for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court in 2014, as I am sure the Deputy is aware. Unfortunately, the resolution was vetoed by two permanent members of the Security Council, namely, China and Russia.

Ireland has provided over €43 million in recent years in humanitarian support for the victims of the Syrian and Iraqi crises and will make a further significant contribution at the forthcoming London conference on the Syrian crisis, which takes place in two weeks' time. We have also accepted over 200 refugees from the Syrian conflict through our resettlement programme and, together with the UN, have also volunteered to take in, as the Senator will be aware, a further 4,000.

In line with international law on refugees, we do not discriminate between refugees on the basis of their ethnicity or religion. Furthermore, we do not believe that the solution to persecution is to remove Christian communities from the Middle East, as this would effectively mark the destruction of Christian heritage at the very place of its birth. The only means of securing the protection of Christian communities and other minorities across the Middle East is through the promotion of sustainable political solutions to the conflicts which have for so long destabilised the region and have been the key factor in the promotion of radical and extremist ideologies. Ireland has been a key supporter of the UN's efforts to achieve an end to the conflict in Syria and Libya and for a unified Iraq free from the threat of Daesh crimes.

The Government has no doubt that horrific atrocities amounting to grave war crimes have been committed in the Middle East, including those, as the Senator noted, that have deliberately targeted Christian communities. The crime of genocide is, however, specific and unique. In order to not to undermine the status of this crime nor weaken its definitional elements, very careful consideration is required before making a determination that genocide has been committed. This should include an assessment of the evidence supporting such claims. Ireland fully endorses the views of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that, subject to a determination by an independent and competent court, ISIS may have committed war crimes against humanity and genocide.

I note that the largest number of victims of jihadist terrorists and terrorism attacks have, in fact, been Muslims whom Daesh and other terrorist groups have murdered for their lack of religious observance, their homosexuality or their commission of petty crimes. As the Senator is aware, Ireland's capacity to obtain direct information from the areas in which the crimes are taking place is limited. It is considered appropriate, therefore, that the matter is properly investigated by an independent and competent court or tribunal. It is a determination resulting from such an investigatory and adjudicative process that is likely to assist in bringing these crimes to an end. It is for this reason that Ireland has, for example, called for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court, the role of which in respect of the investigation and the prosecution of international crimes we have consistently supported.