The proposer has 15 minutes, other Senators have ten minutes; to reply the proposer has ten minutes and the Minister will have 15 minutes. The Minister would like five minutes of Senator Lanigan's time at the end to answer queries.
Irish Overseas Aid Workers: Motion.
I move:
That Seanad Éireann expresses its support for the many dedicated Irish men and women serving with aid agencies in developing countries; extends its condolences to the family and colleagues of Varerie Place, recently killed in Somalia and to the families of other aid workers who have died in Somalia and elsewhere; voices its concern for the safety and welfare of aid workers in Somalia; and calls on the United Task Force and the United Nations to examine, as a matter of urgency, ways and means to provide the maximum degree of security and protection for aid workers in Somalia.
I welcome the Minister in his capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and thank him for the prompt action taken in the aftermath of the death of Valerie Place in Somalia. He went to the UN Headquarters and discussed the safety and well-being of Irish aid workers and aid workers from other countries.
The death of Valerie Place was a traumatic experience for her immediate family. The death of any young person is traumatic but in this case the trauma is shared by the nation because she died while serving with an aid group in Somalia. The work she was doing was of tremendous importance. We sympathise with the family and her co-workers. They need our sympathy because they work in extremely difficult situations. I hope the deaths of Valerie Place and the other two aid workers in Somalia will not deter others from going out to work in these areas.
When we talk about the work done by aid workers, we must ask why they have to be in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone or Bosnia. In many instances, they are there because of famine. It is horrific to think of the number of areas where aid workers have to go to help the starving and the poor.
The crisis in Somalia is man-made. It is an exploitation of the Somalian people by warlords who do not care what happens to them. The West must shoulder some of the blame for what is happening in the Third World. For centuries we were the exploiters and if it was not for this, there might not be the present degree of suffering and deprivation. Europe must play a major part in reestablishing normality in these areas because many of the problems were the result of exploitation by Europeans of the land and people of Africa — they raped the people and they raped the land; they razed the crops and they razed the trees, and they killed the land and the animals. They killed the traditional methods of farming that sustained the land. If the land is not sustained you cannot sustain the people.
No attempt has been made by the West to bring political stability to this area. Political stability must go hand-in-hand with the re-establishment of law and order. We can keep pouring aid into areas where relief is needed, but unless we address the political question, there is no way normality will return. When we talk of relief, we are referring to food and clothing. The supply of food and clothing in areas of deprivation have become weapons of war instead of being used to help people in need. Over the years particularly in Somalia, but also in the Sudan and Ethiopia, the warlords have taken over. In quite a number of cases they have taken over the relief goods that have been sent in. They have unscrupulously confiscated the goods and used them to buy weapons and to get control of cities and parts of the countryside. They have purchased arms by selling food that was brought in for humanitarian purposes.
It is utterly ridiculous that up to very recently in these countries the warlords' mercenary soldiers had to be employed to help to get food to places which needed relief. The warlords were selling the services of their soldiers to relief agencies to get food to places where the warlords would not allow the food in. These warlords are deaf to world opinion and to the suffering of their own people. As long as they control a piece of territory they do not care what happens to their own people, never mind what the outside world thinks of them. In their quest for dominion over their people and over land, they kill, maim and cause suffering. Not alone have they caused suffering for the people of Ireland by their killing of Valerie Place, they have caused suffering for the people of their own country by killing, looting and shooting in order to gain control.
We cannot separate humanitarian aid from the political circumstances in the areas involved. On a global level, whether it be through the United Nations or an other international body, we have not attempted to look at the political solutions to the problems. It is only through political solutions that we can establish law and order back in those areas.
The motion before us calls for the United Nations or, some other international body, to go in and help the humanitarian workers to enable them to do their work in as peaceful a manner as is possible and without threat from warlords and mercenaries. This is a difficult thing to do because many of these countries are quite large in area and it is virtually impossible to monitor what is happening in small villages and towns or rural areas, not to mention the larger centres of population.
The United Nations must go into the areas and do a better job than that done by the United States when they went into Somalia first with Operation Restore Hope. This operation had plenty of advance publicity and got major coverage on the world media. They did not confiscate weapons but left them in the hands of the warlords. While they may have done a good PR job in the beginning, they did not do much to alleviate the suffering of the people or to help the aid workers in getting food and relief supplies to the areas where they were needed most.
It has been suggested that the relief should be flown in and dropped. In the past during the conflict in Biafra relief was flown in but it was dropped in the wrong places to the to the wrong people and was used for the wrong purposes afterwards. I am not sure what has happened in Bosnia.
We could speak for a long time on the political elements that must be brought into force to bring about a resolution of the causes of famine and the causes of maltreatment of a population by their own people or by others from outside. We ask the Minister to go to the United Nations and to press for a United Nations peacekeeping group to be sent to Somalia and other places where aid workers are working. If non-governmental organisations are being used to monitor or to help the United Nations we ask that they be properly trained, that they know exactly what they are about and are as professional in their work as the aid workers, who go on a voluntary basis.
I welcome the Minister to the House. I know he will take cognisance of the motion before the House because it is one with which every Member of the Seanad would wish to be associated.
I thank Senator Lanigan for his words of welcome to this Chamber. I have been here in the past when I was Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs, Women's Affairs, Arts and Culture. The Senator rightly points out I am here this evening as Minister of State with responsibility for development aid. I am very happy to see a number of my colleagues are still here in the Seanad and I give particular mention to the new Members who are with us today. I hope the House will forgive me if I mention in particular Senator Brendan Daly who served as my predecessor in the Department. I have been in the Department only for a short period but I am very conscious of his commitment and the contribution he made in that area.
It is appropriate that I speak briefly and report on the updated position and then, if possible, to respond at the end of the debate. I would like to hear the Senators' views on this very important matter.
Like Senator Lanigan, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government, I would like to express to the family of Valerie Place, to her colleagues in Concern and the other non-governmental agencies, our most sincere condolences at her tragic killing last week.
We all know our aid workers work in difficult and sometimes very dangerous situations and those who have gone to Somalia have done so in the knowledge of the risks involved. In this context we must remember that there are Irish volunteers working throughout the world, many of whom are also in dangerous situations. Nonetheless it goes without saying that the death of Valerie Place came as a shock to all of us. I join with Senator Lanigan in expressing gratitude and respect to the many aid workers, people of the calibre of Valerie Place.
Apart from Valerie Place, our thoughts should turn also at this time to Sean Devereux a UNICEF worker of Irish origin, and to Kurt Lustenburger of the International Committee of the Red Cross, both of whom lost their lives at the hands of gunmen in January. Our sympathy and condolences go also to their families and colleagues.
All relief, rehabilitation and development operations depend on the existence of an adequate level of security. In the months preceding the deployment of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) at the beginning of December 1992, the work of the more than 60 Irish relief workers and of other relief workers, both Somali and foreign, was hampered by the prevailing insecurity and lawlessness. It was not possible to transport food from the ports and airports to the feeding centres where the food was so badly needed by hundreds of thousands of starving Somali women and children. Even warehouses were frequently plundered. This scandal was rightly highlighted last year by my colleague, the then Foreign Minister, Deputy Andrews, and by the President, Mrs. Robinson.
Since the arrival of the UNITAF in December, the situation has dramatically changed. Food is now getting through to those in need. Irish and other humanitarian workers are better able to get on with their job of helping people in need. Indeed, a start is now being made on rehabilitation and reconstruction and, importantly for the future, on the reopening of schools.
Ireland has fully supported the decisions of the United Nations Security Council in relation to the situation in Somalia: the appointment of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, the establishment of UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) and the authorisation of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), under United States command.
In welcoming the authorisation of UNITAF, we hoped that the dispatch of the 30,000 strong force would stabilise the security situation in Somalia. Unfortunately, while UNITAF's deployment has resulted in a distinct improvement in the supply of food, the gunmen, who used to attack the aid supplies, are now targeting other, softer targets and, in particular, the vehicles, homes and resources of the aid workers.
The Unified Task Force is confronted with a number of small but heavily armed private armies. Ultimately, they will have to be disarmed if peace and stability are to return to Somalia. However, disarming them will not be easy and will take time.
In addition, however, to the private armies of the warlords, there is a more immediate threat posed by undisciplined gunmen, mostly young persons, who are no more than thugs and bandits. It is they who pose the immediate threat to the aid workers. It is essential that they be brought under control and disarmed as quickly as possible. We fully appreciate the difficulties involved, but as long as gunmen can menace aid workers, the relief effort will remain under threat.
The Seanad will be aware that, following the killing of Valerie Place, I went to Washington and to New York last week to discuss the situation in Somalia and, in particular, the security of aid workers with the American Government and with the United Nations.
In Washington, where I met the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Houdek, I thanked the United States for the medical assistance provided to Ms. Place and for their assistance in the removal of her remains to Ireland. I emphasised the need to disarm the gunmen and urged that UNITAF continue to pursue this goal and pointed out that as long as gunmen can menace aid workers, the whole relief effort will remain under serious threat.
Since there is no national authority in Somalia, I also asked that UNITAF investigate the circumstances surrounding the killing of Valerie Place. We believe that this would be useful and may provide information which will help avoid or prevent further such killings.
I put forward some practical proposals which, having consulted the main Irish aid agencies, would make a positive contribution towards the protection and security of aid workers, including improved UNITAF protection for convoys of aid personnel and of their compounds, improved liaison with NGOs and the making available of aircraft for essential journeys within Somalia. These ideas are under active consideration.
I should like to take this opportunity to thank the US authorities for their helpfulness on this matter. I must say that there has been an improvement in liaison with NGOs on the ground because since my return I have consulted almost on a daily basis with the aid agencies involved in the area. I hope that, in consultation with the NGOs in Somalia, it will be possible for UNITAF to devise improved security arrangements which will allow the aid agencies to fulfil their humanitarian vocation.
The Secretary-General is expected to present a report on the situation in Somalia to the Security Council later this week. This report should address a number of major issues, including the mandate for UNOSOM II, proposals for dealing with the continuing humanitarian problem and his plans for promoting national reconciliation in Somalia. We look forward to the publication of this report and to the Security Council's decision on future UN action in Somalia.
Ireland continues to support the endeavours of the United Nations and others to bring peace and stability to Somalia. We endorse, in particular, the international efforts to reinforce the traditional role of the elders, referred to by Senator Lanigan. We believe that the traditional rulers represent the best hope for long term peace and the basis for the restoration of national authority.
The deaths of Valerie Place, Sean Devereux and Kurt Lustenburger have highlighted the dangerous situation in Somalia. We must not forget those members of UNITAF who have been injured or killed in Somalia. We must continue to help the people of Somalia and to strive to bring peace and stability back to a people who have suffered so much from war and famine.
I know that the Seanad will fully share our commitment to continue our efforts on behalf of the Somali people and to achieve adequate security for all the relief workers, Irish and others, who are helping them.
Senator Taylor-Quinn, I understand you wish to share your time with Senator Cosgrave. Is that agreed? Agreed.
A Chathaoirligh, I support the motion before the House. It is opportune that it should be tabled at this time. I join with Senator Lanigan and the Minister in expressing heartfelt sympathy to the parents, family and colleagues of Valeria Place who was tragically killed while giving great service to the war-torn, starving Somali people. Valeria, by her courage and generosity, made the ultimate sacrifice by giving her life for that very deserving cause. As the Minister said, she is one among many volunteers killed, particularly in recent times and it is unfortunate that this situation has occurred.
Over 30,000 US troops are currently stationed in Somalia providing constant armed escorts for convoys of food from the ships to the feeding stations but they are not providing security or protection for the aid workers. This is totally unacceptable and I am pleased to hear the Minister outline the suggestions he made to the American Government in relation to providing protection for aid personnel, liaising with the NGOs and, very importantly, making aircraft available for long distance travel within Somalia. The Minister is to be commended for presenting the cause to the United States promptly.
There is a role here for the European Community and the Irish Government should use the EC to put further pressure on the UN and on the United States to provide formal armed escorts for aid workers. If such assurances are not forthcoming from those authorities, the Irish Government and Irish aid agencies should seriously consider the withdrawal of Irish aid workers from Somalia.
It is vital that the Irish Government use its position at European and international level to ensure that a political solution is sought. While a military presence is necessary to provide protection, what is needed ultimately, as Senator Lanigan pointed out, is a political solution and for such a solution to be found dialogue must be entered into at an early date. It is vital that all members especially leaders and elders of the Somali community be involved in these discussions because history shows that a political solution cannot be imposed on any community. We in Fine Gael believe that the European Community should use its influence to bring about such dialogue.
The position of aid workers when they return to Ireland needs to be examined. We are great at expressing support, appreciation and pride in their work. However, on their return home they find it extremely difficult to re-enter the work-force. If we are sincere about supporting them we should demonstrate this constructively by ensuring an easy re-entry for them to the work they were engaged in before going to Somalia or elsewhere. The Minister should consider this issue.
I wish to share my time with Senator Doyle.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
This is a most timely motion that we will support wholeheartedly. We extend our sincere sympathy to the families of Valerie Place and Seán Devereux. Their tremendous work will never be forgotten. I thank the Minister for the efforts he has made in the days since the tragedy. I hope he will continue with those efforts on an ongoing basis and not only in the event of a tragedy.
It is in all our interests that those who are doing tremendous work overseas should continue this aid work, whether they are a member of Concern or Goal — where John O'Shea plays such an important role. It is most important that protection be given to these workers. It is vital that aid should get through. I am sure the Minister will continue to keep this matter under constant review because there is no doubt that in the past things happened too slowly at United Nations level. It is important that we all concentrate on the protection of the workers and ensuring their safety. Certainly none of us would like to see the workers having to return home because that means that more and more people will die. We fully support the terms of this motion but I ask the Minister and his officials to push the case as we cannot allow it to be forgotten. It is important that the Minister should continue his efforts in this regard in the months ahead.
I feel very honoured this evening to speak in this House in praise of the life and work of Valerie Place. The Christian ethos understands the corporal works of mercy as clothing the naked and feeding the hungry. By her missionary work in a voluntary capacity, Valerie Place dedicated part of her very young life to fulfilling the corporal work of mercy of feeding the hungry. Unfortunately, in carrying out this work she had to pay the sacrifice of her life. The change in the health of young children in Somalia who she started to feed some three or four months ago has been dramatic and is a great tribute to her. Valerie Place changed misery to happiness and I hope she is sharing in that happiness today.
We have had examples of man's inhumanity to man down through the centuries and it continues to this day. It is sad to realise that food is available for the starving people of Somalia but evil men prevent its distribution. I hope that is coming to an end. I hope the work of Valerie Place and her death will not be in vain and that there will be free distribution of food to the hungry.
On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to join with the other Members of the House in conveying our deepest sympathy to the family of Valerie Place, to her co-workers in Somalia and in the other strife-torn parts of the world where there are Irish people and people from all nations trying to help those who are suffering.
On behalf of our party I welcome the motion. It is timely and is appropriately worded. I also congratulate the Minister and the Department of Foreign Affairs in going to the UN and in meeting representatives of the US Government to make a strong case for security and protection for aid workers in Somalia. They need absolute protection in so far as it can be given for the selfless work they are doing on behalf of Concern, Goal and various other agencies.
The points made by the Minister are all of importance. Listening to the views of those on the ground, to the NGOs, and taking account of their first-hand experience of the situation is most important. They know what are the problems and I am glad that point has been taken on board. I was glad to hear the Minister say they are getting to the stage of rehabilitation and re-opening of schools because I know that agencies like Concern really want to go in as development workers rather than crisis workers. Very often they have to spend much time and energy dealing with crises but what they are really about is helping people to help themselves, helping them to develop and to set up their own institutions to improve the situation in their countries.
I also support the statements by Senator Lanigan and Senator Taylor-Quinn regarding a political solution and working in whatever way we can as a country to help towards that end. In the long term it is the only way the problem will be resolved.
Another area I would like to concentrate on is disarming the gangs of gunmen in Somalia. This is not only a problem in Somalia; it is a problem in Bosnia, Lebanon and other areas of strife throughout the world where there appears to be an abundant availability of weapons. This must be addressed by the EC if possible, but particularly by the United Nations. Arms get into the hands of groups who believe they have deadly enemies and that they have right on their side. Until we deal with that innocent people will continue to suffer and die in areas of unrest.
I believe Ireland is particularly well positioned to take a lead in this area because of our record of humanitarian assistance in many parts of the world. I feel we should take a stand on the matter in the United Nations to see what can be done at that level to control the supply and availability of arms in various parts of the world.
I join with the other speakers in supporting the motion before us. I ask the Minister to concentrate in particular on the area of disarmament.
I am sharing my time with Senator Norris.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome the Minister to the House. I am delighted he is regarding this matter with such concern because it is extremely serious. I support the motion and I wish to join in the expression of condolences to the Place family. I knew one of her sisters and know the tremendous distress this death has caused them.
I wish to address the latter part of the motion regarding concern for the safety and welfare of aid workers in Somalia. Workers in Somalia are in real danger. When our President visited that country she was in that same danger and it was very courageous of her and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to go. I am a member of the Overseas Committee of the Irish Red Cross and the man in charge of the International Red Cross effort in Somalia at the moment is Mr. Geoff Loane. He is an Irishman, so we get first-hand reports of the ongoing situation. It is extremely serious.
When I was chair of the Overseas Committee of the Red Cross and we were interviewing workers to go abroad, I stressed to them to look after their own safety first and foremost. Often very altruistic and idealistic people go out forgetting the enormous danger to their own lives, not just from bullets. People were shot in my time, mercifully not fatally. People were electrocuted, people got very serious diseases. All of this must be carefully pointed out to them and to those who are running the agencies.
There is a civil war in Somalia. It is a member of the UN and, even though it has no Government at the moment, resolutions of the UN are binding on it. Paragraph 3 of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 794, under which troops went in there in December at the beginning of Operation Restore Hope "demands that all parties, movements and factions in Somalia take all mesures necessary to ensure the safety of United Nations and all other personnel engaged in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including the military forces"— a group very often forgotten —"to be established pursuant to the authorization given in paragraph 10 below.". Paragraph 5 of the same resolution "strongly condemns all violations of international humanitarian law occurring in Somalia, including in particular the deliberate impeding of the delivery of food and medical supplies essential for the survival of the civilian population, and affirms that those who commit or order the commission of such acts will be held individually responsible in respect of such acts."
Some individual was responsible for this act and, while I know law and order has broken down there at the moment, I hope the best is being done to ensure that whoever perpetrated the murder of this girl is brought to book. This is a very dangerous situation and we have very altruistic people going out on these missions. I hope they are taking a very tough line to see how safe some of their ventures are. At the time of the shooting the Red Cross had withdrawn to barracks, and all their white personnel were within barracks. I gather that locally there was a great deal of talk about the danger to white workers in particular. The Red Cross is in a fortunate situation because they have Somalian Red Crescent personnel whom they can send out to the feeding stations but I hope any other aid workers would not go out except to do the most urgent tasks in times of severe stress.
How do they assess their danger? I presume they get advice from the UN, who I have found to be incredibly helpful in these situations. I was very worried to hear the Deputy Director of Goal say on the wireless he felt the aid workers were in more danger now than when the UN were not there. Soldiers realise the danger of going into certain areas far better than politicians, not because they are cowardly but because they realise that the arrival of arms can make a situation more serious.
While Mogadishu has been cleared of gunnmen, many of these gunmen are in the countryside. They are extremely angry young men because many of them were getting $100 per day protecting relief workers and they are now without finance. They feel they have a vested interest in trying to be re-employed as protectors. I know the Government cannot tell the aid agencies what they must do, but I hope the Minister will ask them to be very careful and not let their personnel get into areas of danger because a dead aid worker can do nothing for the people he or she has gone to assist.
I have had help from the UN. I went once to see how our relief supplies were getting through to the Kurds and without the aid of the UN to get to the Iran-Iraq border I would not have managed to carry out that task. I was not questioned. They let me make my decisions and we have to realise that they are doing this, quite rightly, with the aid workers. Therefore, I would be very glad if the Minister would take up with the agencies the situation regarding their personnel. They are in danger and if there is one group which realises that, it is the insurance companies, because we have to pay very heavy premiums to insure our workers who go abroad. The safety of our workers should be at the forefront of the Minister's deliberations.
I am grateful to my colleague, Senator Henry, for giving me this opportunity to speak on the motion which I support. There is unanimous support around the House for it. We are impressed and gratified by the remarkable work so many young Irish people have traditionally engaged in in largely voluntary operations, with groups like APSO, VSI, Concern, Goal, etc. It is clear that they are in danger, and in this appalling situation in Somalia, one has to remember that food is not only necessary for the inhabitants but is also a weapon of war. Starvation is an instrument for advancing policy and is recognised as such by the warlords. The control of food is a military objective. There is a very disorganised situation with, for example, gangs of technicals extraordinarily heavily armed, and here many European countries and the two previously existing super power blocs bear a very heavy responsibility because it was they who armed these people, gave them the weapons and allowed them to commit these appalling outrages.
I share Senator Henry's hope that the people responsible for the worst of these outrages may be brought to book at the bar of international opinion but unfortunately I doubt if they will be. In Kampuchia Pol Pot, who has been responsible for the death of two million people, is getting back into power with the assistance of the West. In East Timor, where one-third of the population has been butchered, again with the connivance of the West, similarly there is no call for an international war crimes tribunal. We have it, however, for political reasons, in Bosnia-Hercegovina, but I wonder if there is an appropriate international standard of morality to back up the remarkable work of these young volunteers. I am afraid that there is not.
Pehaps the Tánaiste, Deputy Spring, will work for an independent foreign policy which will urge the claims of international morality in a way that will be recognised by the international community and may itself, by throwing a moral shield around these people, help to protect them. The work of the Irish contingent is greatly honoured and I would like to place on record my personal salute to the previous Minister, Deputy Andrews, for his remarkable initiative. He was almost the first major politician from Europe to take the initiative in visiting Somalia, and was then followed by the President who made a further remarkable intervention. The visual impact of the visit of those two distinguished Irish states people had an impact on the situation.
There are a number of Irish people over there at the moment. I have just been reading an article in The Cork Examiner of 3 March 1993, about aid workers and the difficulties they face. The writer, Eamon Timmins, says:
Life in Somalia is shaped by security precautions. All ex-patriate workers live in compounds behind plate steel gates and under 24-hour armed guard. The same armed guards accompany them when they travel in vehicles.
One of the problems, as Senator Henry indicated, is that they are not receiving appropriate protection from United Nations agencies or the American military. They seem to be still relying very heavily on locally recruited gunmen who are volatile and capricious, and if the high standards to which Irish people adhere are imposed on them, they frequently turn nasty, become difficult and utter death threats. In this article, again and again, it is made clear that food is distrained by these people. If an attempt is made to regularise the situation, those trying to regularise it become victims of death threats. With the rest of the Members of this House I salute Valerie Place and her colleagues.
I thank the Minister of State for his very kind remarks and to wish him well in the office he now holds. He will find, there, as I did, a professional and highly dedicated staff. He will not find in any Department people with such commitment and dedication, which is recognised not only nationally but internationally.
As Minister of State I had occasion to visit some of the countries where Irish aid is being provided. The depth of gratitude from the local communities and the acknowledgment of the efforts Ireland was making, were brought to my attention by various leaders. Prime Ministers, politicians and community leaders in the various townships have acknowledged the efforts Ireland has made in Somalia. In supporting this motion this evening we can be proud of the dedication and skill of the many volunteers and experts prepared to work in difficult and dangerous conditions so as to improve the circumstances of the most marginalised societies in developing countries. I pay tribute to all the Irish aid workers overseas, to the large number of volunteers, many of whom are young, currently working in the feeding kitchens in Somalia and who previously worked in Ethiopia and elsewhere. I also pay tribute to nurses working in the field hospitals with inadequate medical supplies and equipment and to the engineers endeavouring to restore basic water supplies and sanitation to villages, many of which have been abandoned and destroyed as a result of war and famine. All of these people deserve our respect and gratitude.
I express our deepest sympathy to the family and relatives of the late Valerie Place. Her untimely and tragic death has brought home to us the dangers for overseas aid workers in countries like Somalia. I trust, however, that her death has not been in vain and that all of us sharing the grief and sadness at her passing will resolve to make our own special efforts at finding solutions for the problems of Somalia and, indeed, of the developing world.
I have had opportunities to visit many of the dedicated personnel working in Government and non-governmental agencies throughout the developing world. No words of mine could adequately express the depth of gratitude we owe to those caring and unselfish people. In every country I visited the authorities demonstrated their deep familiarity with and appreciation of the work being done by Irish personnel, especially, for the disabled, the handicapped, the sick and for women who number among the deprived in many developing countries. Ireland's efforts were not only recognised in Government circles and by political leaders, but also by people in the communities and townships. It was also understood that because of the size of Ireland and our economic circumstances our ability to donate significant amounts of aid is limited. Some of our European partners whose aid levels are higher than ours have per capita incomes almost double the size of ours. Indeed private support in Ireland for non-governmental organisations involved in overseas development aid has steadily grown. As a result, Ireland today has the highest rate of private development assistance as a proportion of GNP of any country in the world.
There is universal respect for Irish personnel working overseas. Despite our limited financial resources we must, without hesitation, continue to lead international opinion and pressurise the economic power blocks to make a more positive intervention, especially in the African crisis. Recent OECD figures show that Africa is totally dependent on financial aid from industrial donor countries for its survival.
Measures other than aid are urgently required. However, time does not permit a detailed discussion of the Somalia situation. Suffice to say that the United Nations and the European Community need to provide back-up for the aid and relief programmes. The type of action necessary was sadly lacking at a critical time. Serious problems arose in Somalia regarding the distribution of aid, and United Nations troops were not deployed in the early stages when matters were totally out of control. These limitations together with failure to disarm and round up the gunmen and bandits who held the country to ransom clearly indicate the shortcomings in the international response and the necessity for a co-ordinated international effort to avoid further tragedies in future.
Many African countries including Somalia are in crisis at present. When I visited Tanzania which is probably one of the poorest countries in Africa, I witnessed extreme poverty; the extent of deprivation there is beyond the imagination of anyone who has not seen the conditions at first hand. Television and media reports can never portray its widespread devastation, human misery and extreme poverty that appears to be worsening. Tanzania has severe shortages of skilled labour and consequently, the economic development of the country is seriously hampered. Even basic maintenance of existing facilities cannot be carried out at present.
African countries are in crisis for a number of reasons. Drought and severe weather conditions have affected all Africa, especially southern Africa. Environmental difficulties, soil erosion desertification and over-grazing, together with the Third World debt crisis, economic and political mismanagement in many countries and the world recession all take their toll. An alarming situation is deteriorating rapidly. An international co-ordinated response is urgently required. Ireland cannot address the problem alone.
I also visited Zambia. In one township there, Kamanga compound, a settlement on the outskirts of Lusaka and formerly an illegal compound, 6,000 people live in a space approximately the size of St. Stephen's Green. There are no basic water supplies, schools, health services, footpaths or anything of that nature. Irish aid workers there at present are endeavouring to restore water supplies, sanitation and refuse disposal facilities and to provide basic school and health facilities. This is being done with the aid of Irish funds. We need to record the valiant efforts being made in difficult circumstances in the target countries where Ireland has rightly concentrated its aid over the past number of years — Tanzania, Lesotho, the Sudan and Zambia. The results of aid can be seen in those areas.
The prospect facing Africa today is tragic, threatening and dangerous but there are signs of hope. Governments there now seem more willing to find ways of dealing with problems and they value and appreciate the efforts being made by countries such as Ireland to help them in their endeavours. The international community will stand indicted if it fails to answer the call of Africa and allows the deepening crisis there to turn into a disaster, the dimensions of which will be too horrible to contemplate.
Twenty years of war in the Horn of Africa have caused more damage than the African drought and have given Africa the highest level of displaced persons in the world today. These issues must be tackled. The establishment of democracy in Africa and the development of new economic structures there need urgent financial and technical support from the international community which could respond more positively than it has to date. It is neither worth while nor useful to look back on what happened in the past. Let us learn from mistakes and through the medium of international fora, highlight these problems, as President Robinson and our former Minister for Foreign Affairs have done.
I appeal to the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and to his colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to continue to use international fora to highlight shortcomings in the international response to the threatening crisis in the developing world and the necessity for urgent and immediate action to avoid further Somalias in the years to come.
I support the motion. It is tragic that Valerie Place, who had shown such commitment and dedication to the people of the developing world, should be killed. Her murder illustrates the dangers faced each day by Irish aid workers in trouble spots like Somalia and the immense courage they have shown in the most difficult circumstances. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Spring, and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Kitt, must now initiate urgent discussion with the United Nations and the aid organisations to see that appropriate steps are taken to ensure the safety of other Irish aid workers in Somalia.
The harrowing photographs and graphic television film we have seen in recent weeks of the plight of the Somali people have brought home to us the ugly reality of human existence in much of the Third World where permanent hunger is a fact of life and death is often a welcome release. The poignant scenes of starving people — men, women and children — which so moved President Robinson, put our own economic and social problems in a different perspective. What we have seen on our television screens in the comfort of our homes must remind us that by the standards of the unfortunate people of Somalia we are very well off and, therefore, we have a moral and political responsibility to respond to their plight and to offer what assistance we can. Our eyes have been opened to what President Robinson described as the greatest tragedy facing the world today. We must now respond by opening our hearts and our pockets to those who are suffering in Somalia and in other parts of the developing world.
At this juncture I would like to refer to Ireland's aid to the Third World. While I welcome the increase in the amount of aid this year, the timetable for the achievement of the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP is too long. I am disappointed it does not deal in particular with the urgent need for emergency measures to deal with the Somalia tragedy. I believe there would be widespread public support for a proposal that the Government should respond to the urgency of that situation by matching, pound for pound, the money raised by voluntary organisations. The people of this country are rightly proud of the courage of President Robinson in going to Somalia and of the agencies and the courageous young people who work in Somalia and other Third World countries.
The Government's decision on the ODA is and must be regarded as dismal. Despite the fact that there has been an increase in the past year, we must demand a larger increase. The Minister should do this by bringing all the parties together. He would receive wholehearted support. We are quick to demand assistance from the wealthier countries in the EC. It is unacceptable for the Irish Government to demand that wealthier EC states provide such assistance for poorer regions of the Community while at the same time we so restrict the aid we provide to the poorest countries in the world.
I welcome the Minister and wish him luck in his new role.
I am delighted to speak tonight, at this appropriate time, on how we can best protect our aid workers in the developing world. I extend my sympathy to the family of Valerie Place; it is a tragic time for them. She was a lovely girl who went out to the developing world to make her contribution as a young nurse. It was very noble of her and when she was gunned down in the course of her work, it made the world conscious of the dedication of our young voluntary workers. Every year a large percentage of our voluntary workers go to the undeveloped world to work there. They want to make a contribution and they are to be complimented.
I also read in my research that there is ster for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews, who, with President Robinson, highlighted the tragedy of Somalia. It was then that we realised tire tragic situation of these people and wondered how could we help them. If I did not have a full time job I would have made it my business to contact the voluntary organisations and make my way out there to help.
We are here tonight to discuss how best we can protect the voluntary workers. It is very difficult because there seems to be lack of security on the ground. While the UNITAF force looks after them in the towns, it is when they move outside that the problem arises. That was the problem for Valerie Place; she was on her way to a rehabilation centre, a school for young children, when the gunman shot her.
It is impossible to have absolute security but I am glad the Minister visited the United States and I hope that his action plan will go a long way towards tightening security and controlling the gunmen. Playing the devil's advocate, I would like to question the liaison of the voluntary organisations with the Department. Is it fragmented? Is there room for tightening up? One part of the organisation may not know what is happening elsewhere. Since there are gangs and thugs out there, the operation should be tight.
The Minister should ensure that there is no looseness in the security plan because that is where it can fail, through nobody's fault. I compliment the voluntary organisations on their good work but my reading and research indicate there may have been some slippage. Perhaps the aid workers are getting bolder as they become familiar with the area and with what is to be done; perhaps they take risks, and took one too many in this incident. That is why I think voluntary workers need to be well disciplined and tutored as to the risks and responsibilities involved, and there is a responsibility on the Department of Foreign Affairs to implement a security programme to protect them.
I also read in my research that there is another plan whereby the United Nations will take over from the force that currently implements the security programme. In any transition there is a looseness and the gunmen will be well aware of it; that is the time they will move. They have moved out from the cities and towns to the highways and byways and they will seize an opportunity at a time when the UN may be weak on the ground. I would like the Minister to take that into consideration.
The introduction of aircraft, as already mentioned, would be a good idea. Aeroplanes must be used to transport our workers from place to place.
The motion before the House is appropriate. We must look for support in ensuring the safety of our workers and must promote their cause and security. I would like to be associated with this.
I welcome the Minister to the House. I support the motion and endorse the views expressed by many Senators. I extend my sympathy to the family and friends of Valerie Place on the tragedy of her death. I express deep concern at the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. I welcome the Minister's action in going to the United States and taking with the UN with a view to having the matter fully investigated and appropriate action taken. Valerie Place had bravely given her time to help those caught up in the man-made horror that is Somalia. I hope her death will not deter others from helping where it is needed.
I question the adequacy of the UN Unified Task Force. It is planned that the UN will take over this role and I hope that every effort is made to protect all aid workers in war-torn territory. Aid agencies deal with the symptoms rather than the cause. Greater UN intervention is needed to tackle the war in Somalia, to deal with the warlords, the guerrillas, the common thugs and vandals.
Another question which has not been raised this evening but is worthy of consideration is the role of all aid workers in the Third World. Are they there in the role of the missionaries of days gone by, wanting to stamp our form of so-called civilisation on others, or are they there solely to assist those in plight, helping people plagued by war and famine to help themselves? I hope their function focuses on the latter rather than the former. We need to liaise with the community leaders rather than work above them.
I ask the Minister to ensure that pressure is placed on the UN, through the EC and by our own country, with a view to finding a long term solution for Somalia. Then and only then will the death of Valerie Place not be in vain.
I welcome the opportunity to express my support for this motion. I join with all Members in expressing our sympathy to the family of Valerie Place. We are moved by such a heroic sacrifice at a time when confidence has been lacking. The response of the people to the heroic sacrifice and contribution of Valerie Place has given them a new spirit of pride and confidence.
It is appropriate that the Minister and the Government become vigorously involved in creating conditions in which people like Valerie Place can work effectively so as to relieve the terrible and crushing problems of the people of Somalia. There is a limit to what people like her can do. They are responding and reacting to problems created by other forces. There is a limit even to what our Government can do. I welcome the initiatives taken by the Government and the Minister who is present in the House. The Minister recently addressed these issues and the role of the UN directly with the United Nations in New York.
One must look for the root of the problems which arise in areas such as Somalia. The family of nations must ask why there is endemic need in certain parts of the world; why is there a constant shortage of food while in other parts of the world, notably our own, there is a surplus? Why has the family of nations through the United Nations, other world organisations and regional organisations, such as the European Community, allowed this scandal for so long? How can we have a surplus of food and prevent food being produced while there is a constant scarcity of food in other countries? That is an issue the family of nations must address as a matter of urgency.
Scarcity of food is usually caused by human intervention of a negative and vicious nature and not by natural disasters. We must question our capacity as a civilised community of nations to deal with such matters. The United Nations Only have an effective mandate when the Security Council and the member states give their agreement to UN involvement. However, trouble arises where there is no readiness to accept the United Nations.
We looked at the extraordinary contradiction that existed in Cambodia. The United Nations, the family of nations of the world, recognised a political force that was a shame on the face of humanity. This is totally inconsistent with the role of the United Nations. The UN will not intervene where there is an internal authority. Why should that be so? If that authority is deprived by any right or conduct to exercise authority, why should the United Nations stand back and allow crimes against humanity to be perpetrated? This is an issue which must be addressed by the UN.
We are looking at a similar situation in Bosnia. When was the last time that crimes against humanity were brought before the bar of world sanction? This only happened after World War II when Germany and Japan were defeated. Do events in Bosnia not warrant trials for crimes against humanity? What happened in Kampuchea? What is happening here? Does that not warrant trials for crimes against humanity? Is that acceptable at this stage of our political experience? I do not think so.
When a tragedy of this kind happens it arouses us, but we must not think that we can deal with these matters simply on the day. We should try to eradicate the cause so as to ensure a greater degree of security for the people who live there. Although it is sad, there is a certain heroic sacrifice associated with the deaths of Valerie Place, Kurt Lustenburger and Sean Devereux. What about those who are living in these countries and who are subjected to horrific oppression, brutality and starvation? What is the family of nations doing to intervene? I support the Minister's efforts to ensure that these warlords — a euphemism for scandalous, scurrilous criminals — will be put down. We should be very careful in our talks with those people. Because they have the power of terror, the power of oppression, the power of murder, I would be reluctant to give them sanction or recognition. This a real test of the capacity of the United Nations, which was intended to be the United Nations of the world. Only when we get complete agreement will we be guaranteed that the circumstances that brought about the death of people like Valerie Place will not recur.
Some of the examples I have quoted have been the result of my experience as Minister for Foreign Affairs. I could not, and I still cannot, reconcile the attitude of the United Nations to Cambodia and Pol Pot with the high minded statements and principles that motivated that organisation, but I can enthusiastically endorse the terms of this motion and the efforts that our Government and the Minister in particular are making to deal with the terrible circumstances that led to the death of Valerie Place.
I compliment the Minister of State for the steps he took when Valerie Place was killed and on his endeavours to ensure proper security measures are in place to prevent other aid workers being killed. I wish to express my gratitude to the President, Mrs. Robinson and to the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews, for highlighting what is happening in Somalia.
Prior to my nomination I helplessly watched on television the suffering of these people and wondered at the inactivity of world authorities because, in my view, there is a simple solution to famine — provide food. Every day we saw food being stolen by these warlords at the Port of Mogadishu. As Senator O'Kennedy said, thugs and vandals would be more appropriate names for them.
Good comes from tragedy and I hope good will come from the death of Valerie Place. We have seen suffering and tragedy on a massive scale on the African continent for too long.
Somalia is not a country in the sense that it does not have a Government and law and order. I cannot see why so much time was spent debating whether the world should distribute food to the people of Somalia. It appears politics is about everything but providing human beings with the basic requirements of food and shelter. In the event of similar tragedies we must act quickly and responsibly. Wherever people are starving we must provide aid to ease their suffering.
There have been famines in Ethiopia and Somalia. Volunteer aid agencies have been telling us that there is about to be a famine on a massive scale and it is a sad irony that in Europe we have massive food mountains and the ability to transport them. I was in San Francisco a couple of years ago and I saw grain being loaded into the hull of a massive ship. I asked workers on the ship where it was going and they told me it was going to the Pacific Ocean. I asked "to where" and they said "to the ocean". There they open the hulls and let the grain fall into the sea to support the price of maize and corn in America. We do likewise in Europe. It is a sick sad situation and we call ourselves civilized. I extend my personal sympathies to the Place family and to all the other aid workers who have given their lives to serve humanity.
This has been a wide ranging debate on a very important issue. A number of questions were posed. One of the important questions was what the world arbiters should do when a tragedy occurs. There are numerous United Nations declarations as to what should be done, but very little is done. There are hundreds of United Nations resolutions on Somalia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Palestine etc., but they are not being implemented. Unless we give the United Nations power, I am afraid they will not be implemented. The United Nations must become a proper unit for deciding what should happen on the world stage.
With regard to Somalia and the death of Valerie Place, what influence the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Wartime? If there is a war going on in Somalia the Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Wartime should be implemented. How can that convention be implemented? Who is going to implement it? There are sanctions laid down for those who do not adhere to the convention, but I have not seen any country tried by any forum for failing to do so. The point Senator O'Kennedy made is correct.
There has been a call for faster action. We should no longer have ad hoc reactions, at United Nations level, to events in various parts of the world. A United Nations fast reaction task force should be set up, on a permanent basis, so that the UN will no longer have to react in an ad hoc manner. There appears to be an infinite combination of letters that can be placed after “UN”.
Unfortunately, too often aid has become an end. Too much food aid is sent to places where there is famine every few years and this discourages farmers from producing cash crops. Even when the rains come, there is no point in farmers sowing seed to grow crops which they cannot sell because at that stage there still remains an enormous amount of food aid.
The question of arms availability has to be addressed by the world community. The world is awash with arms manufactured in Europe and the United States and the remnant of arms that were available in the USSR to the massive armies of the USSR. They are available to whoever has the money to buy them and, unfortunately, it is the warlords all over the world who are buying them.
Senator O'Kennedy raised questions about recognising the warlords and said we should be careful about getting involved with them. There is to be a meeting, shortly, in Addis Ababa of the leaders of the 15 major factions in control in Somalia. They are not sure if General Mohammad Adid, the leader of the major group based in southern Mogadishu, will attend. If he does not go, there is no point in the other 15 leaders meeting.
There has been a shift in the population, with refugees being scattered all over Africa. In Yemen some time ago I saw a refugee camp with 10,500 Somalians living in tents in very bad conditions with a few Irish aid workers and a major input from Medicins sans frontieres from Paris. These people will never go back to Somalia. The Government of Somalia is in exile in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. What government they are, who they represent or whether they will ever represent anybody is a moot point but they are sitting in Riyadh and they are supposed to be the government in exile. I am not too sure if they will ever become a government de facto, but they are there; who elected or selected them is not of great importance.
The Christian ethos was mentioned. Christianity has not helped Africa. Other religions have helped Africa more than the Christian religion. When we talk about a Christian ethos we must look at ourselves and ask if the modus operandi of Christianity in Africa is any better than the modus operandi of any other religion.
The Minister has much to think about from this debate. I am sure it will help him in his efforts to get support for our aid workers and every other aid worker attempting to do their job. The United Nations should look at what is happening on the ground in countries like Sierra Leone. Every aid organisation and NGO in the world is represented in Sierra Leone which is one of the poorest countries in the world even though it has the capacity to be one of the richest. They are concentrating too much on aid for its own sake and not on solving the political problems there which make aid necessary. I thank the Minister for coming to the House and I thank the Seanad for unanimously supporting the motion.
This is my first visit to this Chamber as Minister with responsibility for development aid. I was here during the last Administration in relation to EC and other matters. This has been an excellent debate. I listened to contributions from someone who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator O'Kennedy and Senator Daly who served as Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development aid. I heard from colleagues who have a lot of experience in this Chamber and from new Members.
The contributions across party lines reflect the strong feelings of the public in relation to overseas development aid and the development of areas such as Somalia and other places, I welcome the fact that the debate covered broader issues. The new Programme for Government reflects these strong feelings. By increasing the percentage of GNP which goes to development aid to 0.2 per cent, which is still quite a modest increase, we are simply reflecting the views of the Irish people, the tremendous reputation of our aid workers abroad and the strong humanitarian role we play on the international stage. I will reflect these views on serving as Minister with responsibility for this area.
I welcome the emphasis Senator Lanigan put on the man-made nature of Somalia's problems. Somalia is a glaring example of man's inhumanity to man and the solution cannot be found in aid alone. He is right in saying that. It needs a political solution based on peaceful negotiation and reconciliation between the elders of the different tribes. Although there have been attempts to bring the Somali people together, the warlords have disrupted the ceasefire. I agree with the way Senators described those people. I support the ceasefire agreed in January between the different Somali factions.
Finding a political solution will not be easy; efforts are being made by the Secretary-General's special representative and by the US Government. We support these efforts and at the UN conference on Somalia next week we shall do what we can to advance a solution. In the short term, we support the efforts to reestablish a Somali police force, a first step in restoring national authority. Our attitude and that of the UN is to build up a police force from the ground. Many people have said we should impose solutions. We cannot have that attitude. One must work with the structures that are there and the need is to build up a security system. It could be called a police force because it will be built on the existing system.
Senator Lanigan rightly emphasised the need for proper training for Irish aid workers. I can assure him that both APSO, the Agency for Personal Service Overseas, and the agencies concerned, GOAL, Trócaire and the Red Cross are fully conscious of this requirement and make every effort to ensure that volunteers get adequate and appropriate training. I appreciate the points raised about reintegrating returned aid workers. That point was made by Senator Taylor-Quinn and others and is a very serious issue and I discussed it yesterday with APSO for the second time. We need to look at it because part of the programme is to increase the number of volunteers from 400 to 2,000 by 1997 and that is a considerable undertaking. There will be many people going abroad and returning home and we cannot ask them or encourage them to do this work without looking after their needs on their return. Since becoming Minister with responsibility for this area, I have requested APSO to initiate a study which will cover this aspect. That work has begun and I expect to have a report next month.
Senator Daly spoke of the failure of the UN system in Somalia. This charge is fully justified and we must learn from the experience. Senator O'Kennedy broadened the debate, stating that we should look fundamentally at the whole UN structure, as did Senator Lanigan in his concluding comments. Ireland will continue to press for reform of the UN to enable the system to meet future demands made of it by the international community when a situation like that in Somalia arises again, and inevitably it will arise. It is already the subject of discussions in the European Community.
Senator Taylor-Quinn also referred to the European dimension. Some of our EC partners are providing troops to UNITAF and they, like other troop contingents, are protecting Irish aid workers. The protection of our aid workers is our major priority. We are also continuing to press with our European partners to ensure that Somalia and the safety of aid workers are kept at the top of the political agenda. We shall continue to press for disarming the armed gangs. Everyone accepts this needs to be done but we should not delude ourselves that it will be an easy task. It will require some consideration.
Senator Sherlock who is not here at the moment proposed private subscriptions with Government funding pound for pound, and I remind the Senator that at present ODA is about double NGO and other private aid.
Senator Ormonde referred to the need for daily liaison in Somalia. I assure the Senator that daily liaison between the UN, the US and the aid agencies in Mogadishu is taking place. As Minister I have ensured that this important liaison takes place. In Dublin, too, there is daily contact and exchange of information between the main Irish NGOs and the officials of my office. Following my appointment I had a meeting with all of the NGOs immediately followed by bilateral meetings with the larger organisations. Senator Ormonde rightly referred to the need for vigilance during the critical period of transition from UNITAF to UNOSOM. I have referred already to the issue of aid workers coming home.
Senator Norris stated and I quote "Food is a weapon of war" and referred also to human rights violations in other countries. He mentioned East Timor and Cambodia, and I share his view on the need to include reference to other countries in this debate: Senator O'Kennedy, drawing on his experience, referred to his frustration with the inability of the UN to deal with problems in many areas. As the Senator knows, Cambodia is an area of particular interest to me and needs to be considered closely in this debate on the structure of the UN.
I welcome Senator O'Kennedy's broadening of the debate. He asked many fundamental questions about interventions in certain areas. We need to consider how countries might deal with situations requiring intervention both bilaterally and collectively. It is crucial that in the years ahead the United Nations should intervene, not just after the event but in time to prevent disaster through the use of its intelligence and structures.
Senator Kelleher rightly expressed his frustration with the present situation, reflecting the views of many politicians and members of the public. Senator Gallagher asked how aid workers deal with problems on the ground. Do they work within the system of the various countries? Before my visits to Washington and to New York I was at a conference of EC and Central American Ministers in El Salvador where I met with a young Cork man who is working in a commune of about 2,000 very poor people. He had married a local woman and they had a child both of whom I met. He was a fitter, and had established a local credit union to address the needs of his commune. I thought that was a tremendous example of an Irish person responding to local needs in the best possible way. Irish aid workers have tremendous ability to adopt to local needs and to learn new languages such as lesser known African languages.
Senator Henry mentioned the need to work within UN resolutions and frameworks which I stressed earlier. She also mentioned the need to discuss safety with aid workers and since my appointment I have constantly sought and taken their advice which is the best advice available in this matter.
In those brief comments I have tried to cover most of the important points made, a Chathaoirligh. Thank you for inviting me to this debate. I warmly welcomed the opportunity to speak and it is most appropriate that the Seanad should discuss this important issue now.
Question put and agreed to.
Sitting suspended at 7.45 p.m. and resumed at 8 p.m.