Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 6, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “ “humanitarian assistance” means the provision of services that help migrants to access their fundamental rights (including to health care, shelter, hygiene and legal assistance) and to live with dignity, or any action guided by the principles of humanity, solidarity, impartiality and independence;”.

I welcome the Minister of State. While it may not be apparent as we stand here today in the Chamber, the language used in this Bill has real life and death consequences. At the height of migration into Europe from conflict areas in 2016, military ships, including the Defence Forces' LÉ Róisínand LÉ Eithne, were assisting boats that smugglers had left stranded in the middle of the sea. In 2019, however, the EU mission named Operation Sophia, which called on those ships, was wound up. At the time, this drew criticism from organisations such as Amnesty International and the Irish Refugee Council.

No definition of what constitutes humanitarian assistance is provided in the Bill or in the EU or UN legislation that the Bill is seeking to transpose into Irish law. The lack of definition has been a consistent issue with each of those legislative measures. This issue was highlighted in the European Parliament's 2018 study, which was commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and European Affairs and aimed to assess how fit for purpose the facilitation directive, which this Bill is seeking to transpose into Irish law, was. The department decided to use the definition in our proposal as the study's basis.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, has made it clear that it is crucial that a definition of what constitutes humanitarian assistance be made explicit in the Bill. Since we sit on the UN Security Council, the simple addition of this definition would set us apart as standard-bearers for the protection of vulnerable people worldwide. There have been more than 1,300 deaths in the Mediterranean since the start of the year. Adding this definition would go a long way towards preventing the future loss of life. I hope that the Minister of State will consider accepting this amendment on defining "humanitarian assistance" in the Bill.