Vol. 235 No. 11
asked the Minister for External Affairs if, in view of the continued fighting in Nigeria and Biafra, he has considered whether it is possible to take any further action towards ending hostilities there and towards safeguarding the interests of Irish persons in these areas.
6.
asked the Minister for External Affairs if he is aware of the uneasiness of many citizens of the State at the non-observance of the Geneva Convention in Biafra and Nigeria; if so, if he will take whatever steps are at his disposal to prevent the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents in these countries and to ban the supply of arms to the belligerents; and if he will request the Irish Red Cross Society to increase their contribution for the relief of those in dire need in Biafra.
7.
asked the Minister for External Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to reports that three million people, including many children, are doomed to die from malnutrition in Biafra and that, unless immediate help is provided, four and a half million will die in the next few months; and whether he will immediately seek a meeting of the appropriate United Nations body to consider all possible steps in the face of this catastrophe.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose taking Questions Nos. 5, 6 and 7 together.
As I have said on numerous occasions I am only too well aware that from 1966 with the assassination of the Prime Minister and members of the Federal Government there have been deplorable breaches of the Charter of Human Rights and the Geneva Convention in many parts of Nigeria. In answer to Dáil Questions on various aspects of the present conflict I have indicated the steps taken by us to help ward off the civil war and since the conflict began to contact our citizens in danger areas, to evacuate those of them who wished to leave and to give aid to afflicted Nigerian citizens through the International Red Cross.
Croise Deirge na hÉireann with funds provided by the Government and the Irish people has contributed cash, food and medicines for the relief of distress. Much more would have been made available were it not for the difficulties in delivering supplies direct to the territory controlled by authorities of the Eastern Region and of their refusal to accept food or medicine consigned through territory under Federal control.
Even if it were proposed in the General Assembly of the United Nations that all States be called upon not to supply arms to either side in the Nigerian conflict there would be little or no prospect of such a resolution being adopted unless it were acceptable to the Federation. In any event, the mere stoppage of further arms shipments could not have a determining effect on the outcome of the conflict or help the delivery of food and medicine to those in desperate need of such supplies.
The best hope I see of getting the required quantity of supplies to the people who are threatened with hunger and disease is that a cease-fire should be arranged with all possible speed to be followed by negotiations for a stable and lasting peace.
We have been doing, and shall continue to do, all in our power to promote a cease-fire and peace negotiations and the granting meanwhile of the necessary facilities for the delivery of food relief and medical supplies. I hope that the appeal by Croise Deirge na hÉireann for funds to send greatly increased supplies of food and medicine will be generously supported by all sections of the community so that these supplies can be delivered as quickly as possible as soon as the necessary lines of communication are opened.
Would it be possible to use any further diplomatic pressure to ease the bottleneck in respect of supplies of food or to enable food supplies to be channelled into the area? The Minister will appreciate that such action could not be regarded in any sense as intervention on our part in the conflict but on humanitarian grounds.
I quite agree that it could not be regarded as intervention. I have used all the diplomatic pressure I can in order to open the way for supplies into the eastern region which is the critical region suffering at the present time, but, as I pointed out, it is difficult to get that road opened.
Arising further out of the Minister's reply, does he not agree that in the light of the fact that people in this part of the world seem to be facing a calamity which is horrible to consider—starvation is mentioned in the report and the probable starvation of four and a half million human beings—this calls for the application of the maximum amount of effort on his part, and would he not think that there is an obligation on him in ordinary common humanity to seek an immediate meeting with the appropriate arm of the United Nations to secure the immediate provision of food for these unfortunate people by means of something like an airlift which was used effectively in Berlin, or by some other method to remove from the public conscience this terrible thought, that millions of men, women and little children will die, and are dying at this moment? Does the Minister not consider that it is not sufficient for us to rely on the ordinary accepted——
The Deputy is entitled to put a question, not to make a speech.
——slow-moving process of diplomatic relations? He should act in the name of the Irish people, in the name of common humanity, to get a quick solution, and should realise that it is unreal to think——
The Deputy cannot make a speech on this question: he is entitled to put a question.
Surely we are entitled to say something about four and a half million people starving to death——
The Deputy is entitled to ask a question, not to make a speech.
I am not making a speech.
The Deputy is just making one.
I am not: it is not possible to talk about a disaster of this kind in a couple of sentences.
Is this an example of the tactics the Labour Party have been constantly adopting in recent times?
I will not be stopped. It probably has not dawned on the Deputy that there is such a disaster.
The Deputy will resume his seat.
I want to ask the Minister does he not consider that further and urgent steps are necessary in addition to those already taken?
There is no substitute for a cease fire if we want to get food and medical supplies to the eastern region. The eastern region authorities will not accept food through the Federal-held territory and that is the only way that food in any quantity or supplies in any tonnage can be delivered to that area. The first thing to do is to try and bring all the persuasion we can upon both sides in this afflicted land to agree to a cease fire.
On the question of a cease fire, can the Minister say that he is considering taking any action with regard to the supply of arms from outside to Nigeria at present? As I understand it, a number of countries and states outside the area are supplying arms to it. As a prerequisite to a cease fire, the supply of arms from outside surely should be stopped.
It was suggested in one of these questions that this matter should be raised at the United Nations and a resolution passed calling on all states to cease the supply of arms. In my opinion, that resolution would not be passed by the Assembly of the United Nations as long as it is objected to by the Federal Government which is a Member of the United Nations. Again, I want to say that it does not matter whether an arms flow stops or whether it increases, the key to getting relief to the afflicted areas is a cease fire which would enable outside states to send in goods and medicines in quantity. They cannot be delivered in quantity into the eastern region, the area controlled by the eastern authorities. There is nothing left there except odd landing strips, some of which are simply provided by closing off roads in order to allow planes to land. The nearest departure point is hundreds of miles away from these bits of landing strips and nothing of any quantity, of any tonnage, can be flown in. Of course these planes, when they can land or when they can fly in, are subject to attack. The real key to giving relief to the people who are suffering in Nigeria is to use whatever influence we have in order to get a cease fire and to support the Red Cross in their endeavours to collect funds from the Irish people so that they can purchase supplies and be ready to deliver them as soon as the lines of communication are reopened.
Has the Minister ever offered his services as a mediator? Has he made any approach to both sides in an effort at mediation?
I have spoken to people on both sides.
With an offer of mediation?
No.
Apart from what the UN will or will not or cannot do, would the Minister not consider the suggestion by Deputy Dunne of a massive airlift to get food to those people?
I have explained to the Deputy that there is no airport under the control of the eastern authorities that would take in goods in any quantity.
Is it possible to drop food supplies from the air?
Of course it is.
In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I should like to raise this matter on the Adjournment tonight when we shall have time to discuss it more fully.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
