Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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213. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of the recent election of Mr. Maithripala Sirisena in the Sri Lankan presidential election, his views on the situation in that country; if he supports the call for an international investigation into alleged war crimes, including genocide, carried out against the Tamil population at the end of the civil war in 2009; his views on the protection of the rights of Tamil-speakers and other minorities in Sri Lanka; if he will report on any meetings his Department has had with the Sri Lankan Government, or if the situation in Sri Lanka has been raised at an European Union or United Nations level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15280/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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There has been a change in Government in Sri Lanka following the presidential election in January 2015, and I welcome the stated commitment of the new President, Maithripala Sirisena, to freedom, good governance and respect for human rights. At the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union in Brussels on 9 February 2015, which I attended, the Council agreed a number of conclusions on EU priorities at UN Human Rights Fora in 2015. With regard to Sri Lanka, the Council welcomed the commitments by the new Sri Lankan government on rule of law and reconciliation, while encouraging the new Sri Lankan Government to work with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Council to address ongoing human rights concerns and make credible domestic progress on reconciliation. Our Ambassador to Sri Lanka (who is based in New Delhi) maintains regular contact with the Sri Lankan authorities and regularly visits Sri Lanka for discussions there. Our Embassy in New Delhi monitors the situation in Sri Lanka on an ongoing basis. Under Irish Aid’s funding to NGOs, just over €300,000 in funding has been allocated to NGOs working in Sri Lanka in 2012 and 2013.

At the UN Human Rights Council session in March 2014 Ireland voted in favour of a resolution promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. One aspect of that resolution was a request for an investigation by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka. A report of that investigation is due to be presented at the UN Human Rights Council in September 2015.

On the issue of the protection of the rights of Tamil speakers and other minorities, I would note that the Tamil population is widely distributed in Sri Lanka and is not solely confined to the North of the country. More than one third of the population of Colombo is Tamil, and Tamil is the most widely spoken language in the city. According to the 2012 census, nearly three quarters of the city’s population spoke Tamil as their first language. It is understood that the new Government have already made some positive steps to deal with resettlement issues, including returning some military land (used for commercial purposes), nomination of a civilian governor in the Northern Province, cancelling the foreign travel restrictions in the North and welcoming Tamil refugees from India.

A meeting of the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 2 April 2015. The Joint Commission, which oversees the EU-Sri Lanka Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development (in place for 20 years) deals with a broad range of bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest. At this most recent meeting, it was agreed in principle to establish a new Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights, to allow for a dialogue on these issues.

Ireland will continue to monitor developments in Sri Lanka closely over the coming period.