Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the situation in Sri Lanka where despite a recent cease-fire having been brokered, there are continuing reports of deaths and attacks on civilians; the assistance the EU has offered in this regard in possible peace-keeping issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3679/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Recent months have seen a further alarming escalation of violence in Sri Lanka, including increasing military operations, suicide attacks and assassinations, with significant numbers of civilian casualties. I utterly condemn the senseless and callous series of terrorist bombings over the last few days in Sri Lanka that have killed some thirty people and injured scores of others. It is vital that both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka recognise that a sustainable solution to the problems Sri Lanka faces cannot be achieved by military means and that they need to immediately resume meaningful negotiations for a peaceful future for the people of Sri Lanka.

In this context, and as I said in a statement on 4 January, I am deeply concerned by the decision of the Government of Sri Lanka to terminate the 2002 ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). I believe that this withdrawal from the ceasefire agreement can have only negative repercussions for Sri Lanka and its people, including for the already serious humanitarian and human rights situation in that country. It is the responsibility of all sides of the conflict to seek to meaningfully and peacefully address the differences between them for the sake of all the people of Sri Lanka.

It is also deeply unfortunate that the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), whose mandate ended on 16 January following the end of the ceasefire agreement, has now had to withdraw from Sri Lanka. Norway had played an important and significant role as facilitator to the Ceasefire Agreement and the peace negotiations which followed it. On the more positive side, however, Norway has indicated that it will continue its contacts with both sides, so that it might again be able to facilitate talks if the sides agree to return to the peace process.

The situation in Sri Lanka is regularly discussed with EU partners, and the EU continues to play an active role as one of the four Co-Chairs of the 2003 Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka. The EU has called upon the Government of Sri Lanka to come forward with a substantive devolution offer around which negotiations might restart, as soon as possible.

One possible route towards negotiations might be the proposals on the devolution of power to the provinces of the All-Party Representatives Committee (APRC), submitted to President Rajapakse on 23 January. The Committee was established by President Rajapakse in 2006 to seek to forge a consensus among the political parties in Sri Lanka on a possible political solution to the conflict. I understand that a final, consensus document is being finalised by the APRC and is due to be submitted to the President in the near future. While the Government of Sri Lanka have stated that these recommendations will be implemented in full, it would be important that any final political solution be achieved in an inclusive manner, with the involvement of parties to the conflict, including the LTTE.

The EU, and Ireland nationally, remain ready to support a meaningful peace process in Sri Lanka, and to provide assistance in any manner acceptable to both sides of the conflict, and in support of the Norwegian facilitator.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has received a full report regarding the attempt (details supplied) to fly children out of Chad to Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34166/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The so-called charity, Zoe's Ark, was originally established in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami. In April 2007 it announced, via its website, a campaign to evacuate 10,000 orphans from Darfur. Its website stated the charity wanted to place Darfuri children under five in foster care with French families.

The French Foreign Ministry issued a warning about the group in August 2007, stating there was no guarantee that the children involved were orphans without family support, and casting doubt on the project's legality. However, it is thought that up to 300 families in Europe volunteered to act as hosts, each handing over several thousand euro in exchange for the opportunity to foster a child. On 25 October, six members of the charity, along with three French journalists, seven Spanish flight crew and a Belgian national were detained in Abeché, Chad, as they attempted to put 103 children on board a charter flight to France.

All six members of the charity and the three journalists were charged with attempted child abduction and fraud, while the others were charged as accomplices. The charity claimed that all the children, aged between one and ten, were orphans from Darfur. However, investigations by UNICEF and other humanitarian organisations established that few, if any of the children were orphans, and most if not all were from the Chadian border region rather than from Darfur itself. It also emerged that some of the children were bandaged so as to appear injured. The charity insisted it was working in good faith at all times.

Authorities in France, including PM Fillon, condemned the operation. President Déby of Chad accused the group of "trafficking children under cover of humanitarian assistance." When in Chad shortly afterwards, I was informed by the Prime Minister and other interlocutors of the seriousness with which the issue was viewed.

Following discussions in November 2007 between President Sarkozy and President Déby in Chad, all of those in custody, with the exception of the six members of the charity, were released by Chadian authorities. In December 2007 the six members were sentenced to eight years hard labour after a trial in N'Djamena, and also fined $9 million. Under the terms of a 1976 judicial accord between France and Chad, the members of the charity were transferred back to France on 28 December 2007 where they will serve the remainder of their sentence, which was confirmed by a French court last week as eight years imprisonment.