Local People to Determine Development Agenda - Burton
Local People to Determine Development Agenda - Burton
The reported participation by European mercenaries in the aerial bombing of towns such as Bukavu in Eastern Zaire constitute one of the most serious developments in the burgeoning civil war in Zaire, according to Minister of State Joan Burton TD. The Minister was speaking at the opening of the symposium in St Patrick's College, Maynooth, on "Participation in Development: the Questions, Challenges and Issues" (20th February). The bombing of innocent civilians in Bukavu recalled the atrocities that had been committed in Europe at Guernica. Europe must take every action to prevent such atrocities, particularly the participation of European mercenaries in these vile acts.
The Minister said that while the bulk of the mercenaries are reported to be Serbs, there are reports of Belgian and French mercenary participation. She said that European Union countries which have striven to support peaceful settlement and reconciliation in the Great Lakes area could see all of the positive work done by the Union and by NGOS set at nought by this new and very dangerous development. The Minister said that European Union countries should explore whatever mechanisms are available to discourage mercenary participation in Zaire. She said she found it extraordinary that while food deliveries to the Tingi Tingi refugee camp were proving difficult, that there seemed to be no problem with the large scale delivery of arms by Zaire to the Hutu extremists and Interhamwe who were in the camp. She said that failure to disarm the Interhamwe elements could lead to heavy fighting by the rebels led by Mr. Kabilla and the alliance forces and large-scale loss of life of the more than 100,000 refugees in the camp. The new Secretary-General of the UN, Mr. Kofi Annan, had a particular responsibility to take decisive action to bring the warring parties together.
In seeking a solution to the Great Lakes and to the problems of Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire, Irish policy had striven to support local mechanisms and particularly African diplomacy and peacekeeping efforts. Just as it was now properly recognised that local people should be the driving force in local development initiatives in African countries, the same principles might usefully be applied to conflict resolution and prevention. Local development and participation was impossible without a framework of peace and respect for human rights and freedoms. Irish aid has experienced at firsthand in Ethiopia how the end of the civil war and the formation of a government committed to development has created the conditions for participation by local people in a viable and exciting development process.
