Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 19 Mar 1997

Vol. 476 No. 5

Written Answers - Protection of Marsh Arabs.

Tom Kitt

Question:

21 Mr. T. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline to Dáil Éireann whether the Government is aware of the current situation facing the southern Iraqi people known as the Marsh Arabs; and the steps, if any, being taken by the EU and the Government, as a member of the EU Troika, to protect the basic human rights of the Marsh Arab people. [7462/97]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

The Government is extremely concerned at the plight of the Marsh Arab people. Iraq's treatment of the Marsh Arabs violates Security Council Resolution 688 of 5 April 1991, which called for an end to the repression of the Iraqi civilian population. This resolution also insists that Iraq should co-operate with humanitarian organisations to ensure that the human and political rights of all Iraqi citizens are respected. In view of Iraq's continuing failure to respond to the concerns of the international community, all EU member states co-sponsored a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 1996, calling on Iraq to co-operate with UN and other aid agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of southern Iraq. Ireland — as Presidency of the EU — drew attention to the plight of the Marsh Arabs at the 51st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on 18 November 1996, condemning Iraq's denial of its population's civil and political rights and expressing the EU's dismay at the plight of the community of the southern marsh areas.

Iraq and the United Nations concluded an agreement in December last on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 986 of April 1995. The "oil for food" resolution, as it is known, is intended as a temporary measure to relieve the humanitarian plight of the Iraqi population, including the Marsh Arabs, until there is full compliance by the Iraqi regime with the Security Council resolutions imposed after the Gulf War. It allows Iraq to sell specified quantities of oil and provides for two-thirds of oil sale receipts to be allocated for the purchase of food and medical supplies. Most importantly from a humanitarian point of view, Iraq has agreed for the first time that UN observers will be allowed to operate in central and southern Iraq which includes the Marsh Arab territories. I am assured that supplies of food and medicine will shortly be reaching, under UN supervision, the Marsh Arabs and other suffering sectors of the Iraqi population. However, until Iraq fully commits itself to compliance with the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 688, the basic human rights situation of the Marsh Arabs and of the Iraqi civilian population in general will not be fully safeguarded. The EU will continue to press Iraq to implement fully all relevant Security Council Resolutions.