Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I have to tell him that this is almost a personal matter for me at this stage. I went to Colombia in May and visited a town called Cajibio in the Cauca region, where the locals showed me pictures of all the young men who had been murdered by right-wing paramilitaries. They operate with impunity. That is why indigenous people have been so clear in calling out the responsibility of the Colombian Government. I acknowledge the engagements that have taken place. What is missing so far, however, is a clear condemnation by our Government of the extreme right-wing Colombian Government of President Duque, whose members are happy to sit with their arms folded and effectively facilitate the genocide of indigenous peoples in Colombia. I suspect that one has to meet those people to see the true horrors that have unfolded. I was equally horrified to find out that the local forests, from which these right-wing paramilitaries emerged to kill these people, were owned by an Irish company.

We need to do more. I would like to hear a clear ringing condemnation of the failure of the Colombian Government to protect the indigenous people I am speaking of.