Bernard Allen
Ceist:55 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that the international community will bring Pol Pot and his close associates to trial for genocide.
Written Answers. - Policy on Cambodia.
Bernard Allen
Ceist:56 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will vote against Khmer Rouge's Prince Sihanouk and the KPNFL Coalition at the United Nations this month.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 56 together.
I fully share the Deputy's abhorrence at the crimes and misery inflicted upon the Cambodian people by the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge. I have also great sympathy with those who believe that the perpetrators of these heinous acts should be brought before an appropriate tribunal to answer for their crimes. However, as I outlined in detail in response to a similar question on 9 May, the necessary international co-operation required to bring exiled Khmer Rouge leaders to trial in Cambodia is unlikely to be forthcoming in the absence of an internationally recognised government in Cambodia.
I would also refer the Deputy to the comprehensive statement which I made on Cambodia in the Dáil on 31 October in response to a number of parliamentary questions on various aspects of this important issue. In this statement I clearly detailed the situation in relation to Cambodia at the UN and reiterated the core elements of Government policy on Cambodia.
Bernard Allen
Ceist:57 Mr. Allan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will ensure that Irish and international aid is supplied to Cambodia in order to restore its economy.
The Government are fully aware of Cambodia's need for long term international development aid of which it has been deprived since the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. This was a sign of the international community's disapproval of a regime which was installed by a foreign invading force, in defiance of the United Nations Charter.
This need must be addresed in the context of the comprehensive peace settlement at present being negotiated. I have already addressed this matter in some detail in the statement I made on Cambodia in the Dáil on 31 October and I would refer the Deputy to this. I am confident, should a democratically elected government result, that the international community will be generous in assisting such a government in the major task of reconstructing Cambodia. I can assure the Deputy that the Government will fully support the provision of such aid.
In the meantime, international humanitarian and emergency assistance continues to be made available to the people of Cambodia through the non-Governmental organisations. The Government have made two allocations within the last year from their disaster relief funds. On 26 September 1990 they allocated IR£25,000 to Oxfam, (Ireland) to provide shelter kits for displaced families and 13 November 1989, they allocated IR£50,000 to Concern for emergency aid supplies.
The European Community is supplying almost 1.67 Mecu (£1.28 million) in 1990 for relief purposes including food aid for the Cambodian people as well as 9.3 Mecu (£7.15 million) in food aid for refugees on the Thai-Cambodian border to which Ireland has contributed through its payments to the Community budget. I should add that the Government have also contributed IR£100,000 to the Trust Fund which was established by the U.N. Secretary General to finance the start up costs of the major UN operation, the United National Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). This fund will assist with the cost of preparatory missions to Cambodia being undertaken by the UN Secretariat.