Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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163. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action which has been taken at an international level to raise the plight of the Rohingya people who have been fleeing Myanmar in large numbers due to threats to their lives; the position regarding this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44800/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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167. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the position of the Rohingya; the efforts being made by the Government and international community to address this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44889/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 167 together.

The escalation of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State since 25 August has resulted in a devastating humanitarian crisis both within Rakhine State and in neighbouring Bangladesh, where more than 580,000 refugees, most of them members of the Rohingya community, have fled.

In response, the international community has sought to pursue political engagement to bring the violence to an end, to secure unfettered humanitarian and media access in Myanmar, to establish the impartial investigation of human rights abuses, and to achieve an outcome that permits refugees to return voluntarily and safely to their homes.

The roles played by the EU and UN in addressing the crisis have been important in this regard, and Ireland has contributed to the formulation of the EU policy response most recently elaborated in the Conclusions issued by the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 October.

The UN Security Council met three times between August 28 and September 13 to discuss the situation and was briefed by the UN Secretary General on the matter on 28 September. Furthermore, on 13 October the Security Council heard from Kofi Annan, Chair of the independent Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.

Ultimately, longstanding drivers of tensions between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim Rohingya communities of Rakhine State must be addressed and resolved. The report of the Annan-led Advisory Commission provides a roadmap to surmount the political, socio-economic and humanitarian challenges that currently face Rakhine State. The Government of Myanmar has committed to implementing its recommendations, which include proposals to alleviate poverty for all communities in Rakhine State and the resolution of issues that predominantly affect the Rohingya, such as citizenship. Ireland and the international community is calling for the recommendations to be comprehensively and swiftly implemented.

In tandem with political engagement, the response to the crisis has also sought to alleviate suffering and meet the immediate humanitarian needs of people displaced by violence in Rakhine State, especially those now in Bangladesh.

According to the UN, international humanitarian efforts have to date delivered emergency food assistance to nearly 490,000 people; water and sanitation support to 300,000 refugees and host communities; immunisation to 150,000 children; shelter kits to 150,000 people; and counselling and trauma support to over 50,000 people.

Looking ahead, the UN’s revised response plan for Bangladesh anticipates a humanitarian funding need of US$434 million over the next five months. To this end a Pledging Conference for the Rohingya Refugee Crisis was held in Geneva yesterday, 23 October, co-hosted by Kuwait and the EU.

Ireland is committed to supporting the crisis response and at the conference yesterday pledged €2m in direct support. We have provided €460,000 to the emergency response so far and have pledged to provide an additional €540,000 for programmes in the remainder of 2017. For 2018 we will allocate an indicative budget of €1m. Ireland is directing humanitarian and development support to key civil society and other trusted partners in Bangladesh and Myanmar, including the air shipment of vital supplies to affected communities.

Ireland will continue to closely monitor the humanitarian situation as it unfolds.