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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Nov 1991

Vol. 412 No. 1

Written Answers. - Aid for Cambodia.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

55 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the Irish Government sent any aid to the areas of flooding in Cambodia; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

59 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the Irish Government sent any aid to the areas of flooding in Cambodia.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

63 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will be calling for a lifting of the aid embargo on Cambodia.

Roger T. Garland

Question:

70 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the Irish Government have sent any aid to areas of flooding in Cambodia.

I propose to reply to Questions Nos. 55, 59, 63 and 70 together.

The Government have not given official assistance to Cambodia in the wake of the recent floods but we have provided emergency aid on a number of occasions in the past, through NGOs and UN agencies.

I am fully aware of the serious problems affecting Cambodia and would be prepared to consider carefully any requests for emergency aid for that country, economic circumstances permitting.

Within the European Community, Ireland has raised the question of aid to Cambodia on several occasions. At the General Affairs Council yesterday, discussions took place on the prospects for an early resumption of EC aid following the recent signing of the peace agreement. I am hopeful that there will be progress on this question shortly.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

56 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the forced repatriation of refugees in Khmer Rouge controlled border camps to areas of Cambodia under Khmer Rouge control; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

57 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will (1) call for the lifting of the aid embargo on Cambodia (2) send a fact-finding mission and (3) call for the demining of rural areas before refugees and displaced people are repatriated; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

58 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has been contacted by members of the public expressing concern for the situation in Cambodia; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

60 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether he has been contacted by members of the public expressing concern for the situation in Cambodia.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

61 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the forced repatriation of refugees in Khmer Rouge controlled border camps to areas of Cambodia under Khmer Rouge control.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

62 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the fact that he feels the peace plan is the best way of ensuring a peaceful settlement, he will outline his views on the fact that the plan returns the Khmer Rouge to Phnom Penh as legitimate representatives of the Cambodian people.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

64 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will be considering sending a fact-finding mission to Cambodia.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

65 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will call for the demining of rural areas in Cambodia before the refugees and displaced peoples are repatriated.

Roger T. Garland

Question:

67 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will call for the demining of rural areas in Cambodia before the refugees and displaced peoples are repatriated.

Roger T. Garland

Question:

68 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is considering sending a fact-finding mission to Cambodia.

Roger T. Garland

Question:

69 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will be calling for a lifting of the aid embargo on Cambodia.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67, 68 and 69 together.

The depth of awareness and the sympathy that exists in Ireland for the plight of the Cambodian people is something of which I am particularly conscious. Many people have followed with sustained, genuine interest the protracted and very complex negotiations which led to the signing of the UN peace plan in Paris on 23 October 1991 on a comprehensive political settlement for Cambodia. Since the beginning of October alone, my Department have received upwards of 80 communications from concerned members of the public, including telephone calls and letters, expressing the hope that the UN plan, in its final form, would indeed provide a just and lasting settlement of the conflict and ensure that a return to power of the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge would effectively be excluded.

I have welcomed the UN plan as I believe it to be the best guarantee of a secure and stable future for the people of Cambodia, based on democratic institutions and respect for human rights. There is no denying that it presents the United Nations and, by extension, the international community, with a challenge of considerable proportions. But it is a task which the international community is ready to assume, fully conscious of its responsibility to ensure a secure and stable future for the Cambodian people.
The position of the Khmer Rouge, and most particularly of their principal leaders Pol Pot, Ieng Sary and Ta Mok, still raises a number of questions in people's minds. Concerns have been expressed to me that any involvement by the Khmer Rouge is inconsistent with the objective of the UN peace plan to ensure that there should be no return to the barbarous policies and practices under Pol Pot. I understand these concerns, but believe that the UN peace plan offers sufficient guarantees. To have excluded any one of the parties would have undermined the prospect of a comprehensive political settlement and compromised any settlement reached. This was recognised by the Cambodian parties themselves.
The settlement is founded on a desire for national reconciliation and central to it is the right of the Cambodian people to determine their own political future through free, fair and internationally-supervised elections. All political parties and candidates will be required to meet established criteria in order to qualify for participation in the elections. It will also be a requirement that party platforms be consistent with the principles and objectives of the settlement.
I keep in close touch with developments in Cambodia and I receive regular reports from various sources including our partners in the Twelve, the United Nations, Non-Governmental Organisations and other Foreign Ministries. I consider that I have sufficient information to allow me to formulate Irish policy on the issues involved and that therefore a fact-finding mission would not be warranted at this time. However, as I have pointed out in the past, I do not exclude the possibility of such a mission.
The UN plan stipulates that Cambodian refugees and displaced persons shall have the right to return to Cambodia and to live in safety, security and dignity, free from intimidation or coercion of any kind. So that they may return in safety, there is clearly an urgent need to remove the vast numbers of mines from repatriation routes, reception centres and resettlement areas. A UN Advance Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC) will be put in place shortly. This mission, consisting of both military and civilian personnel, will prepare for the more substantial UN operation under the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). One of the responsibilities of UNAMIC will be to begin a mine-awareness programme. Once UNTAC becomes operational, it will take over this work. UNTAC will also be responsible for training programmes in mine clearance and organising teams for this purpose. It will be assisted in this work by the factions in Cambodia, who have agreed to supply detailed records of their mine fields and to make mine-clearing teams available.
Refugees and displaced persons also have the right to return free from intimidation or coercion. This is a right of the utmost importance which the parties solemnly undertook to observe by signing the UN plan. In welcoming its signature in Paris on 23 October, I specifically urged all parties to ahere strictly to the terms of the settlement and to assist fully the United Nations, and its relevant specialised agencies, in implementing the settlement. I said this against a background of disturbing reports at the time of unilateral plans forcibly to repatriate refugees in certain border areas. Swift and effective action was taken by the UN Secretary-General and others to recall to the parties their obligations in this regard. It will be necessary for all of us in the international community to remain vigilant to ensure that the terms of the settlement regarding the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons are strictly adhered to.
Ireland has always taken a positive stance on aid for the reconstruction and development of Cambodia. With the achievement of the comprehensive political settlement, we are examining with our partners how we might best respond to the immediate needs of the Cambodian people and prepare for the medium — and long term — reconstruction of the country.
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