Thank you for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue on the Adjournment. Once again, the vulnerability of children throughout the world has been brought home to us through the shocking revelations and images of the film "Return to the Dying Rooms" on the ill-treatment of children in orphanages in China. Amnesty International is greatly concerned by the growing body of credible evidence, including eye witness accounts, film footage, Chinese press coverage, orphanage workers' testimony and officially published statistics and records of internal investigations. The Chinese Government should answer fully these allegations of children being deliberately left to die, sexual and physical abuse, denial of medical care and serious neglect. Investigation is needed into these matters.
Representatives of the Chinese Government here as in other countries have categorically denied the allegations, but as the body of evidence becomes increasingly compelling blanket denials or failure to provide evidence to disprove specific detailed allegations do little to counter the concerns raised by these disturbing reports. Such denials can only lead to the inference that the abuses in question may be officially condoned.
I am also very concerned about reports of the arrest and detention of relatives of those who have raised these concerns in China. We must continue to force children's rights to the top of political, economic and social agendas. This is not about China-bashing; it is about putting children's interests centre stage. It is also about Ireland acting at national and international levels to promote the welfare of children and raise awareness worldwide about children's rights and high standards of child care for the most vulnerable.
At the United Nations conference in Beijing one of the key issues clearly documented and discussed in upsetting detail was the need to protect the rights of the girl child around the world. There are unique problems with the issue of the girl child in many countries, including the consequences for the girl child of the one child policy in China and other countries because of the low status of women, which leads to a lack of protection for baby girls, young girls being kidnapped in many parts of the world and sold to sex tourism and sex slavery, putting their lives at risk. It is important that we communicate to China our concern about its children and the consequences of its policy. More investigations in this regard are necessary.
Many countries, including China, have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There has never been a better opportunity to raise the issues that so adversely affect the lives of children. There is now an opportunity and responsibility for Ireland to use its international voice. I welcome the action already taken by the Ministers of State, Deputies Gay Mitchell and Burton. I ask the Minister here tonight to ensure a thorough, impartial investigation into these allegations in an open and systematic way. There should be an international investigation of these abuses. We should raise the issue again and again within the EU, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. We have an opportunity to raise this issue as one of international human rights.
I congratulate the Department of Foreign Affairs on its work on this issue to date in the international arena. I ask that the Hague Convention on Adoption be considered to see if it can be acted upon by the appropriate Department here. The Chinese authorities must demonstrate that existing legislative protection of the rights of children in care is effective in practice. The findings of an investigation into this issue should be published in full. Ironically, the rights of the girl child throughout the world should be firmly on the international political agenda as a result of the work done in the Beijing conference. Isolating China is not the answer; working with the Chinese on this issue and raising it at an international level is the way forward.
We have on obligation to raise the standards of care for our most vulnerable children. We are not immune from scandal in regard to children, including children in care. As we come to the end of this decade it is clear that the education and protection of children has become one of the centrepieces of international development and human rights. The principle that education brings empowerment and, with it, the opportunities to transform life has been affirmed strongly by the global conferences at Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing. This makes the future for children a realm of optimism rather than a crucible of despair, as is stated in the UNICEF report.
The UNICEF State of the World Children's Report, 1996, is a stunning report which highlights the devastating impact of global change and war on the most vulnerable members of society. The suffering of children around the world is horrifying. The UNICEF report states that for complex reasons spanning 50 years it is now possible, in spite of the wars and poverty, to believe that ultimately the world will not abandon or marginalise children. It has been a long struggle to have the lives of children taken seriously. They are now at the centre of the human rights agenda. The response of Irish people to "Return to the Dying Rooms" and other scandals has shown that Irish people want to put the rights of children centre stage.
