A catastrophic situation prevailed in Rwanda over one year ago. The international community could and should have done more to prevent and — if not prevent — contain the tragic developments there. A year later, in October 1995, the enormity of the disaster in Rwanda still exists. History continues to repeat itself as the international community could and should do more. The international community includes Ireland; it includes the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Spring, who could and should do more.
A tragic humanitarian disaster will occur again. This is a disgrace solely because the international community has not exercised its resources, its personnel, its politics, its heart in a manner that could contain the escalating crisis in Rwanda. President Robinson recently visited Rwanda, as well as Zaire and Uganda. The President first visited Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide that ravaged that country last year. In excess of one million Rwandans died when the Hutu extremists in the Rwanda Government incited locals to kill members of the Tutsi minority of that country.
More than 12 months later, a tragic land, yet again, presented its face to the President. As a member of the international community and as a member of the UN the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, following the example set by the President, should stand up and be counted on the action or, perhaps, inaction of the Irish Government in relation to the nightmare conditions which bedevil Rwanda. A litany of worrying trends highlight the fragility of the conditions of Rwanda and the complexity of the problem which remains to be faced. Two very disturbing elements within Rwanda relate to the increasing infiltration of murder by the former Government in Rwanda and increased acts of violence carried out by organised gangs of hard-liners. We must not let the international community or the Irish Government forget the plight of more than 1.5 million refugees still living in camps along the Rwandan border and the nightmare of the grossly over-crowded prison system, which is inhabited by many who have returned across the border.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs should urgently activate and encourage the EU and the UN to implement policies which will assist in restoring a new and just society to the people of Rwanda. The delay in restoring a judicial system in Rwanda must be addressed by the international community, including the Irish Government, as one of pressing concerns for the immediate and long-term future of Rwanda.
I have highlighted in the House, over many months, the extremely unstable and deteriorating situation in Rwanda. I have highlighted the hypocritical stance of EU member states who vehemently protest about human rights abuses and genocide in Rwanda and at the same time supply weapons, directly or indirectly, to participants in the conflict.
In response to my questioning on Rwanda in the House in June 1995, the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, stated that a proposal existed which would enable money to be spent on rehabilitation in Rwanda. Money needs to be spent now on rehabilitation, on development of infrastructure and on a judicial system so that they can restore a new and just society to Rwanda. The Government, and especially the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs who has been particularly silent on this issue, must bring together the heads of the EU and the international community in a bid to slow and ultimately halt the ticking time bomb that is Rwanda today.
The Rwandans deserve a new and a just society. They have suffered. The Irish Government must show the world that this continued suffering cannot and should not be tolerated. Our President has given a fine example as a Head of State who is prepared to act; now this Government should do something similar. This bomb must not be allowed detonate Rwanda today.