I have received Private Notice Questions from Deputies Dick Spring, Nora Owen and Peter Barry concerning the urgent need to supply food to the starving people of Ethiopia. I will call the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their questions to my office.
Private Notice Questions. - Starving People of Ethiopia.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the imminence of a devastating tragedy in Ethiopia, he will take steps in his capacity as President of the Council of Ministers to ensure a co-ordinated response by the EC, both in terms of aid and of diplomatic effort to ensure that the continuing civil war does not prevent a new aid programme from getting through.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress he is making to adopt an open road policy in order that much needed food supplies can reach the starving and dying people of Tigray and Eritrea in Ethiopia.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the latest reports of starvation in Ethiopia, he will make immediate provision at national or European level to send supplies of food and medicine to that country.
A Cheann Comhairle, I propose to answer these Private Notice Question together.
I am glad to be given an opportunity to address what is clearly a most serious situation in terms of the potential cost in human lives. The Community and its member states are more than conscious of the double threat to the ordinary people of Ethiopia posed by the drought situation and the ongoing internal conflict in that country.
The Twelve have been making every effort, and are continuing to do so, to ensure that food and other emergency supplies reach those in need. The Twelve have also sought at diplomatic level to bring pressure to bear on all parties to ensure conditions for the safe passage of humanitarian aid to the stricken populations.
As far back as last December, the European Council in Strasbourg called on all parties concerned in Ethiopia, in collaboration with the agencies of the United Nations and other international relief organisations, to facilitate the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance and emergency aid in the afflicted areas. A direct approach was also made to the Ethiopian Government to urge it to allow the free flow of aid to those in need.
The Commission of the European Communities, as well as the World Food Programme of the United Nations, coordinates continuously with other donors both within and outside the Community. There is also a regular exchange of information by telex and at meetings of the EEC Food Aid Committee. The Commission delegation in Addis Ababa has regular discussions with the authorities, non-governmental organisations and others in efforts to ensure availability of, and access to, food for the whole population. At present, under the EC's emergency aid schemes, there are plans to deliver 200,000 tonnes of food aid, valued at 50 million ECU. An additional amount of approximately 11 million ECU has been allocated for medical supplies and storage.
The Irish Government have raised the situation in Ethiopia both in the OECD and EC fora on a number of recent occasions.
The most immediate problem facing donors is the logistical difficulty of supplying quantities of food already available or soon to be delivered to areas controlled by rebel forces. The Government's diplomatic contacts have included discussion with the Soviet Union with a view to securing the agreement of the Ethiopian authorities to the opening of the access routes to rebel held territory in northern Ethiopia.
The basic and most immediate problem, as I have outlined, is not one of co-ordination but of finding access for quantities of food which are already available or soon to be delivered. In the coming months, of course, and assuming this question can be resolved, there will be a need for new supplies of food aid.
As Presidency of the Council the Government intend to ensure that the developing situation continues to be very closely watched so that whatever action is necessary on our part can be taken quickly and effectively.
The Ethiopian Government concluded an agreement in January with the co-ordinating relief agency, the Joint Relief Partnership, to open access routes to rebel-held territories, in particular a corridor south from the port of Massawa into Eritrea and Tigray. This corridor did not come into operation due to the resumption at the beginning of February of fighting by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in and around Massawa. As Deputies will recall, the fighting interfered with a delivery of emergency supplies from Ireland for the people of Eritrea and Tigray.
Foreign Minister of the Twelve, in a strong statement after their meeting in Dublin on 20 February, expressed their deep concern at this resumption in military confrontations at a time when internationally supported peace efforts were under way and when measures to provide humanitarian assistance were well advanced. They furthermore renewed their call of January last for a cessation of attacks on shipping off the coast of Ethiopia.
Foreign Ministers on that occasion also called for a cessation of hostilities and urged all the parties most strongly to resume their efforts for peace and national reconciliation. I renew that call most vigorously here today.
While I thank the Taoiseach for that comprehensive but unfortunately stark reply in relation to the suffering in Ethiopia, I would ask him, in view of the continuing huge loss of life there which now looks certain to continue over the winter months, and also because of the difficulties of getting supplies through to the areas most severely affected, if he now considers it timely for a major diplomatic initiative to resolve this problem? We are grateful for the efforts made in recent months by the Government and other EC governments but would the Taoiseach not accept that, at this stage, unless a major diplomatic initiative is taken by the major world leaders, the loss of life will continue over the winter months?
As the Deputy is aware, it is a heart-breaking situation. Despite all the efforts which have been made so far, particularly by the Twelve, it is intractable and not near a solution. I would like to assure the Deputy that a number of specific initiatives are being explored at the moment. I do not disagree with the importance of a diplomatic initiative but I think it is really a question of practical access. Food is available, medical aid supplies are ready and it is now a question of trying to open up practical means of access. That is being considered very actively under a number of different headings.
I would like to thank the Taoiseach for his reply but unfortunately it has not gone much further than the two previous replies I received, on 28 November 1989 and on 7 February about this issue. I want to join with Deputy Spring to ask the Taoiseach to consider going and approaching the Ethiopian Government, as the President of the EC, to take a major initiative because I believe the talks so far have not brought about the results he is looking for. In the short term can he give an assurance to this House that he will make extra assistance available immediately to RST, the Relief Society of Tigray, and to ERA — the Eritrean Relief Association — to enable them to purchase trucks and provide more food for the one small area where access is available, through Sudan and to provide assistance and support for the internal purchase of food, as I understand there are some surplus food supplies in the north western corner of Ethiopia, so that food can be brought immediately to the areas most in need of it? Can the Taoiseach assure us, too, that he will put extreme pressure on the Government of Ethiopia to bring about a ceasefire while this problem survives and exists?
The Deputy is embarking on something that is in the range of a speech.
These are all questions.
The questions are too long.
Finally, I am asking that pressure be put on the USSR and on Israel to cease supplying arms to the Ethiopian Government and thereby one would hopefully, cut off the supply of arms and help to bring about the end of the war which clearly is the reason so many people are now at the point of death——
The Deputy has made her point.
——and are about to dig their own graves while they wait for death.
If I thought for one moment that a visit by myself personally would be of any assistance or would save even one life I would not hesitate to undertake such a visit but I am not sure that it would.
The Taoiseach is a very powerful man.
I will certainly consider the suggestion and explore it but I will also look into all the other various proposals the Deputy has put forward though what she is proposing is already being considered and investigated. The one redeeming feature at the moment is that there is a number of initiatives or possibilities being explored for airlifts but whether these will produce anything I am not sure.
But without a cease-fire——
We have brought all the pressure we can to bear for a cessation of hostilities.
I agree with everything that Deputy Owen and Deputy Spring have said but I would like to ask the Taoiseach if, as President of the European Council he would use his influence with other countries as well who have a strong influence with the Ethiopian Government, both Africa and Russia in particular, to bring about a ceasefire because that is the key to getting the food into Ethiopia and it is important that all his efforts be in that direction.
As Deputies who are interested and who are studying the situation know, one of the tragic disappointments was that the Port Massawa access route was closed by a renewal of hostilities so that apart from the natural disaster aspect, the cessation of hostilities should be the primary objective of all our efforts. I want to assure Deputies that everything possible will be done and that particularly the various suggestions which have been made will be followed up.
That disposes of questions for today.