Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 314: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the humanitarian problems at the Palestinian refugee camp on the Syrian-Iraqi border as a result of persons being displaced by the Iraqi war; if the EU, including Ireland, has plans to assist in repatriating these Palestinian refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41309/09]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 315: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Palestinian refugee problem in Syria will be discussed at a forthcoming General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41310/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 314 and 315 together.

Ireland and our EU partners continue to pay close attention to the situation of Iraqi refugees, of whom there are estimated to be in excess of 2 million. We are particularly concerned by the large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons, and by the burden being borne by neighbouring states, especially Jordan and Syria. Ultimately, assistance efforts on the part of the international community need to be focused on ensuring that Iraq can once again be considered a secure and peaceful home for the majority of these citizens.

The particular humanitarian problems with regard to Palestinian refugees on the Syria/Iraq border are long-standing and go back to the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, with whom this group are seen to have been identified. Before the March 2003 invasion, UNHCR estimated there were 34,000 Palestinians in Iraq. This group was particularly vulnerable during the ethnic violence which followed the collapse of the regime as the mostly Sunni Palestinian refugees were targeted by Shi'a militias for their ethnicity and for allegedly receiving preferential treatment under Hussein's regime. Palestinian refugees in Iraq were increasingly targets of violence, kidnapping, and death threats. Some tens of thousands fled to neighbouring Syria and Jordan, until those options became closed to them and they were essentially trapped in the no man's land between borders.

There are currently estimated to be more than 2,700 Palestinians living in three unofficial desert camps on the Iraq-Syria border in difficult and harsh conditions, and for whom resettlement within Iraq does not represent a viable option. The refugees have been receiving assistance through UNHCR. Ireland has also contributed to providing assistance to this group. In 2006, the Minister for Justice, on behalf of the Government, decided that Ireland would offer assistance to international efforts to reduce the numbers in one such refugee camp, the Al-Rweished camp, on the Iraq/Jordan border. The bulk of Ireland's refugee repatriation funding was directed at this area that year and approximately 180 refugees were permanently settled in Ireland, which, together with resettlements to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Sweden, facilitated the closure of the camp by the end of 2006.

In the largest ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees in the US, approximately 1,350 Palestinian refugees from the camps on the Iraq/Syria border are currently being considered for resettlement in the US. In addition, a further 98 Palestinians from the makeshift camps near the Syrian border are being housed in a "transit camp" in Slovakia for up to six months while their final resettlement to other countries is arranged by UNHCR. Further comprehensive action on third country repatriation will be required to address the situation in the remaining camps.

While Ireland is not currently involved in this resettlement programme, we continue to provide support to Iraqi refugees, as well as to those displaced within Iraq and their host communities. This funding is channelled through UNHCR, and has totalled €3.2 million since 2007. In addition, a member of Irish Aid's Rapid Response Corps was deployed as a reintegration officer with UNHCR in Syria in 2008.