Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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238. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to make representations to have the 54 Syrian Shia children (details supplied) who were kidnapped following the suicide bomb attack on the bus evacuating them from Foua and Kafraya in April 2017 returned home. [48685/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The attack on a convoy of busses transporting evacuees from the besieged towns of Foua and Kefraya in North West Syria last April, which left over 100 people dead, many of them children, was utterly abhorrent and I condemn it unreservedly. Attacks on civilians in Syria, such as the bombing of this convoy of evacuees, further underline the need for full accountability for these appalling acts. Those responsible for such crimes on all sides must be held accountable. In relation to the allegation of kidnapping raised by the Deputy, it is extremely difficult to get reliable and verified information on the situation in contested areas of Syria. Reliable evidence is essential for follow up and accountability.

Ireland supports a broad range of efforts to ensure full legal accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria as part of a sustainable peaceful resolution to the conflict. We have consistently called for the referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Ireland supports the work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry established in August 2011 by the Human Rights Council to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011 in Syria. Furthermore, in December, Ireland and a group of likeminded countries successfully pressed for the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly to establish an International Impartial and Independent Mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law committed in Syria. Earlier this year my predecessor as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade announced a contribution of €100,000 to support the work of this mechanism.

Conflict and war have a particularly horrific impact on vulnerable groups such as children, and Ireland is committed to working to ensure that their needs are taken into account in humanitarian response in a meaningful way. Ireland has made a significant contribution to the humanitarian response to the Syrian conflict. Since 2012, Ireland has contributed over €90 million to the humanitarian effort. This includes over €3.4 million in funding to UNICEF for the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLG), which works to protect children, adolescent and youths from the threat of poverty through the provision of education and protection within Syria and neighbouring countries. Through our annual contributions to EU Institutions, Ireland also supports the EU’s humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, from which €445 million was contributed in 2016.

Ireland will continue to prioritise the protection of civilians, and particularly the most vulnerable of these, including children, in our response to the Syria crisis.