Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-07-Speech-4-183"
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"en.20060907.25.4-183"2
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".
Mr President, for over six years, Parliament has consistently called for robust action to effect change for the better in Zimbabwe, but we continue to witness the desperate plight of millions of ordinary Zimbabwean people. They suffer on a daily basis from intense political oppression, a collapsed economy and shortages of vital food, water and medical supplies. The United Nations World Food Programme expects to dispense aid to almost four million malnourished people this year – over one third of the population.
HIV/Aids has had a devastating effect on the country, with one in five adults being HIV positive and over one million children orphaned through the loss of their parents from Aids. Unemployment afflicts 70% of the population. Zimbabwe’s political and economic fortunes are at their lowest point in its 26-year history as an independent nation. Action taken by the international community has been at best lukewarm and lacked the commitment necessary to have a real impact on the situation in Zimbabwe.
South Africa should be at the forefront of international efforts to pressure the Mugabe regime into making democratic concessions, but I am afraid quiet diplomacy by President Mbeke has achieved nothing tangible. Through its provision of electricity, maize and credit, South Africa could exert enormous leverage on the Mugabe regime. It has not done so.
Now we see a resurgence of Chinese interest in many parts of Africa, including Zimbabwe. The Chinese Government seems to have no inhibitions about bolstering tyrannical regimes and supplying them with weapons of oppression in exchange for access to natural resources. I see little evidence of diplomatic effort by the EU or by the governments of Member States to close down those international sources of support that keep Mugabe in power. The EU has been less than robust in strictly implementing its own sanctions regime. No wonder Mugabe takes none of this seriously.
If the international community is serious about tackling the appalling conditions in Zimbabwe, then the United Nations Security Council should urgently investigate the situation in that country. Unless we give greater priority to Zimbabwe, the Mugabe regime will stagger on until the point where Zimbabwe fails completely, unable to revive itself without immense international assistance. Action now by the international community could help avert this situation."@en1
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