asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the action, if any, which was taken in relation to the crisis in Rwanda and, in particular, the steps, if any, he has taken to highlight the need for concerted international action to prevent genocide since the massacre and to ensure the safety of Irish aid workers in the area following the resolution proposed by me and unanimously adopted by the all-party Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday, 20 April 1995, expressing concern at recent reports from Rwanda about conditions at internally displaced person's camps in the Gikongoro area of south-west Rwanda and urging the Government to examine the above allegations urgently, to request the Rwandan Government to change its policy on relocation and on humanitarian supplies, to press the United Nations to ensure that adequate monitors are put in place, particularly in the human rights area, to ensure the safety of refugees and to delay the proposed grant of £1 million to the Rwandan Government until adequate guarantees are given relative to the above.
Private Notice Question. - Rwandan Massacre.
At the request of the Government, the Irish Permanent Representative to the United Nations met his counterpart from Rwanda in New York yesterday. He said that the Irish Government condemned the massacre in Kibeho in the strongest possible terms and impressed on the Rwanda authorities the need to control the actions of its troops. He also expressed the Government's firm belief that there can be no settlement of the crisis in Rwanda if the Rwandese authorities cannot win the confidence of all sides. Those responsible for the massacre must be arrested and punished and we have asked the Government of Rwanda to conduct a full investigation into the Kibeho massacre.
In addition, the Government has supported the declaration of the European Union on events in Kibeho which was issued today. In it the EU vigorously condemns the atrocities at Kibeho and calls on the Rwandese authorities to carry out an inquiry into the incident without delay. It also underscores how essential the safe return of refugees is to the process of national reconciliation and to the long term settlement of the crisis in Rwanda. The EU also notes that its development assistance to Rwanda is dependent on respect for human rights and progress in national reconciliation and calls on the Rwandese authorities to facilitate the work of international aid organisations working there.
To reflect the EU's serious concerns, the declaration is being reinforced by an EU démarche which will be made by EU Heads of Mission to senior members of the Government of Rwanda, in Kigali, today.
I met today representatives of the four main NGOs working in Rwanda — Concern, GOAL, Trócaire and Refugee Trust. We had a lengthy discussion of the massacres at the weekend in Kibeho camp in south-western Rwanda and exchanged views on the Rwandan Government's policy in relation to the camps and to humanitarian aid generally. One point to emerge was the fundamental need for political reconciliation in the country. Given our recent experience here, this is a view I fully support. A member of the women's peace delegation, Mairéad Corrigan, who visited Burundi, expressed strongly the parallels in terms of bringing about reconciliation and trust in that country, a view with which most Irish people identify and support.
The position about human rights monitors is that the UN Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda intends to put 147 human rights monitors in the field. As of now, I understand that there are 82 monitors actually deployed. As part of this team there are now 27 EU monitors deployed, which number will increase to 32 by 1 May. Three of the EU team, including its co-ordinator, are Irish. The present strength of the UNAMIR force in Rwanda is more than 5,800 troops. The mandate of this force includes contributing to the security and protection of displaced persons, refugees and civilians at risk in Rwanda.
The UN Secretary-General recently said that in response to requests from the Rwandan Government, he had asked his special representative in Rwanda to consider, in consultation with the Government, adjustments which could be made to the Mission's mandate. The Secretary-General will submit to the Security Council shortly recommendations on the role UNAMIR could play in Rwanda after its mandate expires on 9 June.
There is no doubt that in the long term a solution must be found to the problems of Rwands and that this must involve most refugees and displaced persons returning to their homes. I understand that the policy of returning internally-displaced persons to their homes had been proceeding without major difficulties until the outbreak of violence at Kibeho last Saturday when the massacres occured. This was confirmed by the Trócaire representatives who took part in the movement of 80,000 refugees from an adjoining camp to Kibeho, which proceeded without difficulty.
While we can understand the wish of the Rwandese Government to restore some normality and to close camps which could provide bases for activity by the militias, we are concerned at reports that the withdrawal of humanitarian supplies are being used as a tactic to force the return of people to their homes.
The Government will encourage the Rwandese to persist with efforts at national reconciliation. We will continue to provide emergency assistance — the Government has spent £4 million to date under this heading — but we cannot lose sight of the longer term perspective. We cannot allow Rwanda to slide back into the civil conflict without trying to help with rehabilitation and the construction of a civil society. We are, therefore, providing rehabilitation assistance, in addition to emergency aid, in sectors such as health and agriculture. To date the Government has spent £350,000 on rehabilitation projects in these sectors and is committed to contributing this year a total of £1 million in rehabilitation assistance.
Of the organisations I met this morning three in particular — Concern, Trócaire and Refugee Trust — strongly support the Government's position in this matter. They consider reconciliation and rehabilitation, with the continuing assistance to the camps and to people who are displaced both within and outside the country, as essential. I am obviously deeply concerned to ensure the safety of aid workers and we have been in urgent contact today with the Rwandan Government and the United Nations to ensure that all Irish aid workers in particular are safe. The European Union has also raised this issue in its démarche today to the Rwandan Government.
I thank the Minister of State for her long detailed answer and I share her ideal of the need for national reconciliation. However, I reject the parallels she drew between the position on this island and that in Rwanda. There is no comparison between the murder of 800,000 people that took place in Rwanda approximately nine months ago and what happened in the camps last weekend and the position on this island. My first question to the Minister of State is to inquire what measures are being taken to highlight the need for concerted action to protect the lives of the people in the camps from the Rwandan People's Army who are bent on revenge, understandable following the killing of 800,000 Tutsis. To suggest, as the Minister of State did in her reply, that the matter is one-sided, that Tutsis are right and Hutus are wrong, is simplistic. There are two million refugees still in camps nine months after the tragedies and genocide that took place and we do not want to see that occur again. The Rawandan People's Army needs to be controlled. What is the Minister of State doing to get that point across from the Irish perspective at the UN and the EU?
The parallel with Northern Ireland was made by Ms Máiread Corrigan, a member of an Irish women's peace organisation which went to Burundi with Trócaire to examine the situation there. That delegation, particularly Ms Corrigan, drew the parallel, in the context of intercommunal conflict and conflict being resolved by talking, reconciliation and cross-community initiatives, such as church initiatives, which the delegation described and considered were very important. I said that people who have been engaged here in similar cross-community connections might find echoes and parallels with the position in Rwanda. I am sure most Irish people would support the concept of that type of intercommunal reconciliation and dialogue taking place.
Regarding the RPA, there is no evidence yet that the massacre and outrage which occured at the weekend was planned by the Rwandan authorities. As a Government that is calling for inter national assistance, what happened from its point of view was a public relations as well as a human disaster. It is too early to suggest that it would have had a vested interest via its army in carrying out that massacre and an inquiry into what happened is necessary. This morning we heard a series of detailed reports from the NGO delegations in the hospitals in the areas. Many of the people killed had machete wounds and the army does not carry machetes. Others had serious injuries caused by barbed wire sustained when they tried to climb into the compounds. There was also a general panic and stampede and it was a horrible event.
It is premature to suggest that the RPA is the only faction to be considered because we are not fully informed of the facts. We know that the national army was involved and that it did not behave as an army ought. It is because of that that the Irish Government has expressed its condemnation and outrage of the Rwandan Government, but we want to establish the full facts.
We have been in constant touch both directly with the Rwandan Government and the Irish NGOs. We have used all our contacts to impress on the Rwandan Government our outrage at what happened at the weekend and we will continue to do so. We will also continue to give humanitarian assistance to displaced persons in the country and refugees in neighbouring countries.
The Deputy said he does not want to see almost three million refugees continuing to live in camps in Rwanda and its neighbouring countries. Unless there is a process of reconciliation, supported by the international community and other African countries, we will never be able to move the people from the refugee camps. A dual strategy is necessary, assistance to the refugees and to Rwanda to make it possible for the refugees to return home because it is only in that way that the plight of the refugees can be brought to an end.
I disagree with the Minister's analysis. While the reallocation at gunpoint by the Rwandan authorities of Hutu refugees took place last week, there was a curtailment of food distribution and water supply to the camps enforced by the RPA. I impress upon the Minister of State the immediate need for the EU and UN to play an active role in stopping the genocide. There is no point in protesting to the Rwandan Government about it, the international community must play an active role.
I wish to raise a matter of immediate concern to Irish citizens. Is the Minister of State aware of the rhetoric in the Rwandan media which is totally anti-UN and anti-aid agencies? The very worrying aspect of the matter is that our GOAL agency was accused of sedition on the 8 o'clock news on radio Kigali and two of the aid workers, a nurse, Vera Marron, and an administrator, Rosaline Muller, had their passports withheld. What action does the Minister of State intend taking on this matter? I suggest the UN should be asked to advise the 59 GOAL workers and others in the area as to the measures they should be taking regarding their future work in Rwanda. It is essential that be clarified because it is outrageous that one of our agencies and our citizens who are doing voluntary work there are being so targeted by Rwanda authorities.
That matter was raised with me this morning by Mr. John O'Shea of GOAL. In regard to the two aid workers he said that some material had been found in their vehicle which, according to GOAL, was placed in it and that appears to have been the cause of the difficulty for them with the Rwandan authorities. I think Mr. O'Shea said it was planted on the workers. Since lunch time we have been in contact with our representatives in New York and Geneva to ask them to impress on the Rwandan authorities the bona fides of Irish aid workers, particularly GOAL workers. When I met United Nations' representatives in New York earlier this month, and when I met various delegations from Rwanda earlier, they talked at great length and with great praise of the work of Irish workers with the various NGOs, like GOAL, Concern, Trócaire and Refugee Trust which are working in Rwanda and in the camps in surrounding countries.
We have made it clear that one of the priorities of the Irish Government is the safety of our aid workers. We regret this incident occurred and asked that their passports be restored to them and that they be released. I have seen the report in the Kigali News. For a number of weeks the Rwandan Government has suggested that the international community is not doing enough to assist in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Rwanda. It acknowledges that Governments, like Ireland, and NGOs are strenuously assisting in these efforts. I hope the episode regarding the two aid workers will be an isolated one.
The Rwandan Government in dealing with a difficult and delicate situation is trying to pressure UN agencies in particular — the criticisms have been mainly of UN agencies — to provide greater assistance within the country. One wonders how the incident in Kibeho could have occurred at a time when the Rwandan authorities are seeking the greatest possible amount of international goodwill towards their Government in their reconstruction efforts.
On the matter of our Government's continuing aid to the Rwandan Government, in particular the £1 million, I understand this is being given for medical purposes and for agricultural and other machinery. Surely the principle on which our aid is given must be based on the human rights record of the Government being assisted withstanding scrutiny, one with which we can sympathise? There is no way one could say that the position in Rwanda is acceptable on either the Tutsi or Hutu side. There is grave distrust and if two million refugees are refusing to return home, obviously something is wrong. The fact that two million people remain away from their homes and do not trust their own Government, nine months after the genocide, is a very serious indictment of the Rwandan Government. Is the Minister of State prepared to visit Rwanda, perhaps in the company of some Members of the House, to ensure that the aid is being properly spent and directed to its intended designation and to check the human rights record rather than relying on reports emanating from the United Nations and elsewhere to ascertain whether matters are in order? I believe that one view emanates from United Nations' reports and others but that the factual position is totally different. There has to be something radically wrong when two million people refuse to return to their homes.
Some of the most reputable Irish agencies involved in aid work, such as Concern, Trócaire and Refugee Trust, this morning stressed that they will support any process of reconciliation and reconstruction within that country, in addition to supporting continuing assistance to people in the refugee camps there. Unless there is a movement offering some hope of civil reconstruction in Rwanda, people will not be persuaded to return to their homes.
In committing ourselves to supporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Rwanda — which we did at the donor conference in Geneva last February — we were one of a number of countries who agreed to do so. The conditions under which Irish aid is given to any country, not merely to Rwanda, are that all of it is subject to very detailed examination and evaluation. For example, we use our contacts with NGOs to check the relevant needs and we also meet people in different ministries. Therefore, it will clearly be seen that any aid is not a blank cheque but subjected to very detailed scrutiny, planning and monitoring, which would be the case also with aid given to Rwanda. We will endeavour to be satisfied that all the money goes to the areas identified as being in greatest need, much of which has been determined on the advice of agencies, such as Trócaire, to areas such as agriculture, health, education and the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction.
On the suggestion that I visit Rwanda, I visited the refugee camps in Tanzania with our President in October last. The former Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Tom Kitt, visited Rwanda with the President shortly afterwards. If it is deemed appropriate, I would be happy to return to Africa at any stage either with or without Deputy Ray Burke——
Not with me necessarily; this is too serious a subject for smart remarks.
——or other Members of the relevant committee. If it is possible for Deputy Ray Burke or Members of the committee to accompany me, I am open to such suggestion but the main objective is for the international community and the Rwandan Government to establish what happened——
The Minister of State could go tomorrow but it is too late.
Reverting to the broader politics of the position, the Rwandan Government is actively seeking international assistance. What happened last weekend was a disaster not just for those who lost their lives but for the Rwandan Government, which is calling on the international community for assistance, yet its army participated in the horrendous events of last weekend. So far, other refugees have been evacuated and reports from Trócaire this morning confirm that some 80,000 people were evacuated from an adjacent camp without trouble. We must first establish exactly what happened. We are receiving reports constantly and I will keep the Deputy informed of their content.
I want to raise two points with the Minister of State, accepting that, with her expertise and experience in development work she has a good grasp of the issues involved. The Minister of State mentioned Rwandan rehabilitation and reconstruction generally as well as aid being allocated for medical and agricultural purposes. Is she aware of any specific initiatives being advanced by the United Nations to help in the reconstruction of the overall judicial system? I am sure she is aware that there are no courts there, as all the Rwandan judges were massacred with part of the general population last year. There are no lawyers and bringing people to justice is very much part of the reconciliation process following the genocide.
My second point relates to the extent of the United Nations' forces mandate. Is the Irish Government happy or is it considered acceptable that, because of their mandate, United Nations forces were forced to stand by and not allowed to intervene to save lives during this most recent massacre?
As Deputy O'Donnell correctly said, the Rwandan judicial system is in chaos. Probably the most serious feature of contravention of human rights in Rwanda is the conditions of people at present in jail there as there is gross overcrowding. The United Nations agencies are examining that position but its resolution will be very difficult because apparently many hundreds of thousands of people may have been involved in the killings last year. There is an understandable desire to have some judicial process applicable to those people while, on the other hand, there is no present capability within Rwanda to process that number of cases.
There have been no direct requests to us in relation to the Rwandan judiciary or lawyers, they operate under the French legal system rather than on one such as ours. I understand that is also being examined at international level. It is probably quite difficult to get lawyers to go to another country. Efforts are being undertaken, particularly in relation to human rights monitoring personnel, a number of whom could have quite strong legal backgrounds, including some from Ireland.
The mandate of United Nations forces will come up for review. When I met the Secretary General's personal representative Mr. Gharekhan, in New York recently that was one of the matters discussed. At present the United Nations is examining how its mandate can be reinforced, possibly extended, but there are differing views within the Rwandan Government which is comprised of both Tutsi and Hutu representatives, of nine parties, thus representing quite a range of views and ethnic groups. The United Nations mandate is at present being debated and examined and must be resolved by June.