Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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327. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will seek a human rights observation mandate for MINURSO when its mandate comes for renewal at the United Nations Security Council in October 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47939/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has a long tradition of contributing to UN peace-support missions and we have maintained a continuous presence in UN peace support operations since 1958. During our time on the Security Council we are pushing to improve the mandates of UN peacekeeping operations.

We are working to ensure that the mandates for peacekeeping missions align with the needs of the populations that they serve and that peacekeeping missions are adequately resourced to that purpose, including in the case of MINURSO. We believe that UN Peace Missions have an essential role to play in protecting civilians and promoting respect for human rights, and Ireland is supporting their crucial work in this area.

Ireland’s longstanding position on Western Sahara is one of full support for MINURSO, the UN-led process and the Secretary General’s efforts to bring about a definitive and mutually acceptable political settlement on this issue. The UN path is, in our view, the only path forward.

The Council, in UNSCR 2602 of 2021, called on the parties to the conflict to develop and implement independent and credible measures to ensure full respect for human rights and has encouraged enhancing cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), including by facilitating visits of the High Commissioner to the region.

The Council has called on all parties to respect the terms of the ceasefire agreement of 1991, to fulfil their obligations under international law, including ensuring full respect for human rights, and to refrain from taking any actions that could lead to further destabilisation of the situation on the ground.

In the mandate renewal process, as in all our work across the Council agenda, Ireland will continue to promote respect for human rights, accountability and compliance with international law.