Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-083"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20051130.11.3-083"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, as my fellow Members have stressed in their speeches, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are three countries where human rights are being flagrantly and persistently violated while the international community stands idly by. Although these countries are making economic reforms that are necessary for their development, they are forgetting the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens, especially those of ethnic and religious minorities.
I would like more particularly to draw your attention to the situation of the Hmong population in Laos. These people have been persecuted by the people’s army continuously for 30 years because their parents or grandparents fought on the side of the United States in the Vietnam war. There are said to be nearly 20 000 of them surviving in the jungle under appalling conditions, conditions that fly in the face of the human rights principles we all support. They live off leaves and roots and are so insecure they are forced to move their villages regularly. Their children receive no education and suffer from malnutrition. Several hundred of them surrendered to the authorities, but they were arrested or disappeared. The central government denies the facts. The international community learned their story recently thanks to the media.
It is time we opened our eyes and in particular strongly condemned this campaign of repression, extermination even, that is being conducted with complete impunity. We must call on the Laotian Government to allow international and non-governmental organisations free access to the areas concerned – that is the only way those people will get the food and care they need – and, above all, press the government to integrate these populations into Laotian society with the fundamental rights and freedoms they have been denied until today. We know that the Laotian economy depends on aid from foreign donors, much of it from the European Union; the international community and the European Union therefore have means of bringing pressure to bear on the country’s authorities. We hope, Madam President, that the Commission and the Council will heed these calls and help the populations of South-East Asia."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples