Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 November 2021
207. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the activities of Boko Haram are being or can be curtailed or restricted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56782/21]
View answer208. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the activities of Al Shabaab are being restricted, curtailed or challenged with particular reference to the need to protect their victims; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56783/21]
View answer209. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the kidnapping of women and children by Boko Haram is being challenged and restricted and the perpetrators incarcerated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56785/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 207, 208 and 209 together.
I strongly condemn the continued violence perpetrated by Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab. Ireland supports EU, UN and other international efforts to reduce their influence, and to prevent their attacks, especially against civilians, and humanitarian workers and facilities.
Through the Irish Aid programme and as an EU Member State, my Department is helping address the poverty, hunger and exclusion which can generate support for these groups, as well as responding to humanitarian need in regions affected by conflict. This includes €27 million in Irish Aid humanitarian funding to the Lake Chad region since 2015. Irish Aid also supports those displaced by conflict in northeast Nigeria, where the numbers in need of humanitarian assistance and protection are at the highest levels recorded.
Through the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the United Nations is helping stabilise the situation in the Lake Chad region. Ireland is penholder, together with Niger, on the UNOWAS file at the UN Security Council. In its Presidential Statement on the consolidation of peace in West Africa, of 17 August 2021, the UN Security Council strongly condemned continued attacks against civilians in the region, as well as attacks and the threats of attacks against schools, children, and educational personnel, including with regard to recent abductions in Nigeria.
Ireland’s membership of the International Support Group for the Regional Stabilisation Strategy for the Lake Chad Basin, and observer status at the Sahel Alliance, allows us to work with others to coordinate our support to Boko Haram-affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin.
Since 2012, Ireland has provided over €56.6 million in humanitarian assistance to Somalia, including to communities displaced by conflict in Al Shabaab-held areas. The UN-mandated, African Union-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia, AMISOM, supports the Federal Government of Somalia in its efforts against Al-Shabaab.
Ireland is Chair of the Somalia Sanctions Committee at the UN Security Council. That Committee oversees an arms embargo and the use of other tools to encourage a more peaceful and secure Somalia. This complements Ireland’s role as an EU Member State supporting Somalia, including the strengthening of its government institutions.
The EU has three missions in the Horn of Africa. A number of Irish nationals are deployed to the civilian mission EUCAP Somalia, including the current Head of Mission, and one expert is deployed to the civilian mission EUCAP Sahel Niger. Twenty Irish Permanent Defence Forces personnel participate in EUTM Mali, and a further fourteen are deployed to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Ireland’s participation in these missions allows us to contribute to peace and security, help protect human rights, and put in place conditions for sustainable development.
