Seymour Crawford
Question:52 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the security and political situation in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18766/04]
View answerThursday, 24 June 2004
Questions (61, 62, 63)
Written answers
As Afghanistan prepares to hold elections in the autumn, the security situation in the country is a source of concern. This concern is fuelled by an increasing number of attacks on personnel involved in preparations for elections, continued factional fighting in the north west and the recent deplorable murders of foreign nationals involved in humanitarian and reconstruction work. It is important that the international community should remain focused on how best to support Afghanistan in the period ahead. The decision of the UN Security Council to authorise an expansion of the NATO-led international security assistance force in Afghanistan, ISAF, through provincial reconstruction teams, PRTs, is an important development in this regard. It is now envisaged that the NATO summit which will take place in Istanbul on 28 June 2004 will devise an operational plan for the expansion of ISAF and that a further number of PRTs will be deployed before the elections.
I am pleased to inform the House, on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, that Ireland will continue to provide seven members of the Permanent Defence Force for a further period from July 2004 for service with ISAF in Kabul, subject to ongoing review. In order to ensure a secure environment in Afghanistan, it is important that all irregular forces are disarmed and demobilised or integrated into the national army. I welcome the steps already taken towards this end, but much more needs to be done so that the future Afghan government has unified armed forces at its disposal. To this end, I strongly urge all concerned to make a full commitment to the vigorous implementation and intensification of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process. The elections which are scheduled for September 2004 will constitute the next and final step in the implementation of the Bonn agreement of December 2001 on arrangements for the re-establishment of permanent government institutions in Afghanistan. For the elections to be credible, a successful registration process is needed.
The special representative of the United Nations Secretary General recently reported to the Security Council on the ongoing preparations for the elections and indicated that while the preparations are well under way, concerns remain over funding for the elections and the possibility that lack of security could lead to under-registration in some provinces. As of 16 June, some 4 million Afghans, out of an estimated 10.5 million eligible adults, had registered to vote. Some 36% of those who have registered are women. The electoral authorities in Afghanistan have established a target budget of $101 million to conduct the elections and have received pledges of approximately $70 million. Officials in my Department are in discussion with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, to transfer Irish funding of €800,000 to support the conduct of the elections. The European Commission is currently putting in place arrangements for effective EU support for the elections. This support will include the deployment of a democracy and election support mission to be distributed across the major regional centres as the security situation permits. The European Commission has committed €24 million towards the total cost of the electoral registration process.
To support Afghanistan's overall reconstruction the EU committed some €2.3 billion at the 2002 Tokyo Conference to cover the five-year period 2002 to 2006. Ireland on that occasion pledged €12 million which has been disbursed in full. At the follow-up conference, Afghanistan and the International Community — a Partnership for the Future, held in Berlin at the end of March 2004, I reiterated — in my EU Presidency capacity — the European Union's continuing firm commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction. Ireland on that occasion pledged a further €5 billion to be expended over the next two years.
The House will be aware of the grave problems that flow from the resurgence of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Ireland, together with our EU partners, fully supports the Afghan transitional authority's uncompromising stance on the illicit cultivation of and trafficking in drugs. Afghanistan will continue to face many serious challenges in the period ahead and will therefore continue to need extensive support from the international community. Ireland and our partners in the European Union are determined to play our part in this process.
Jim O'Keeffe
Question:53 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the situation in the Congo and the level of aid from Ireland that will be dispatched to the Congo for 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18772/04]
View answer
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:101 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the UN and the EU during Ireland’s Presidency has examined the situation in the Congo with a view to alleviation of starvation, human rights abuses and war; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18961/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 101 together.
The peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, remains largely on track, although recent events have underlined the fragility of the transition process established under the Sun City peace accords of 2002. There is a clear need for accelerated progress in implementing the transition if lasting peace and security are to be achieved in the country and indeed in the wider Great Lakes region. The most serious recent incident has been the capture of Bukavu in eastern DRC on 2 June 2004 by rebel forces formerly linked to the RCD Goma movement. This gave rise to protests in Kinshasa and several other Congolese cities directed against MONUC, the UN operation in the DRC, which resulted in a number of civilian fatalities. The European Union took the lead internationally in condemning the capture of Bukavu, issuing a declaration which also condemned the human rights violations accompanying the violence in Bukavu as well as all foreign interference in the DRC. The EU's prompt response assisted in stabilising the situation and encouraging efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully. Bukavu has now returned to governmental control though the overall security situation in eastern DRC remains tense. An attempted coup against the transitional national Government of President Kabila took place in Kinshasa on 11 June but this was quickly quashed without any casualties. In recent days, there have been reports of a substantial troop build-up by Government forces in the eastern DRC but this appears to be more an attempt to assert the transitional Government's authority throughout the entire country than for any other purpose.
The priority now is for all sides in the DRC to re-dedicate themselves to completing the transition process, in line with the Sun City peace accords. The European Council, meeting on 18 June, has called upon the Congolese leadership to fully assume its responsibility in this regard and has urged accelerated progress, in particular, in completing the process of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, DDR, and establishment of an integrated national army and police. The European Council also called upon all neighbouring countries and, in particular Rwanda, to do all in their power to support the peace process in the DRC. Support for the peace process in the DRC has been a major ongoing priority of the Irish Presidency and the EU is already actively contributing to strengthening the transitional institutions and helping them to extend their authority throughout the territory of the DRC.
Apart from financial support for the process of DDR, the EU is also providing support, in a two-phase project, towards the establishment of an integrated police unit in Kinshasa, with the emphasis in the initial phase on training and rehabilitation of the training infrastructure. This follows the successful deployment of the EU-led emergency multinational force, Operation Artemis, in the town of Bunia in Ituri province last summer which paved the way for the subsequent deployment of the strengthened MONUC operation last autumn. The EU continues to co-operate closely with the UN and MONUC regarding events in the DRC and is willing to extend any practical assistance it can to MONUC to facilitate implementation of its mandate.
Recent events in the DRC have also underlined the importance of the regional dimension to building peace in the DRC and the Great Lakes region. The European Union fully supports, and has been actively engaged, through the EU special representative for the Great Lakes region, in the preparations for the proposed international conference on the Great Lakes region which is currently scheduled to begin in November 2004. The conference will focus on peace, security, democracy and development in the Great Lakes region and will be held under the auspices of the African Union and the UN. Under our Presidency, the EU has continued to be prominent in raising violations of human rights in the DRC at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The Irish Presidency was instrumental in securing a consensus resolution on the human rights situation in the DRC at this year's session. The resolution condemns the ongoing human rights violations still occurring in eastern DRC and provides for appointment of an independent expert to continue monitoring and reporting on the situation. To date in 2004, bilateral funding of over €1.5 million has been allocated by Ireland to the DRC. Of this, over €600,000 has been disbursed to non-governmental organisations, NGOs, providing basic health care for internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups. Over €900,000 is being provided this year to Concern for longer-term development assistance under Development Co-operation Ireland's multi-annual programme scheme. In 2003 development assistance amounting to over €2.7 million was provided to the DRC by Ireland. Ireland is also a key contributor to the World Food Programme which is engaged in providing emergency food needs for internally displaced persons and returnees in the DRC.