HC Deb 28 April 1993 vol 223 c434W
Sir David Steel

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the United Nations and the Government of Iraq concerning the treatment and well-being of the marsh Arabs of southern Iraq.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

We fully support United Nations Security Council resolution 688 which condemns the repression of the Iraqi civilian population throughout Iraq and demands an immediate end to this repression. We are concerned at Iraq's failure to comply with United Nations SCR 688 and take every opportunity to call on Iraq to do so. Most recently our permanent representative at the United Nations reminded the United Nations Security Council sanctions review meeting on 29 March that therepression of the civilian population continues in many parts of Iraq, notably the south, where the draining of the marshes threatens an environmental as well as a human tragedy".

We have consistently called on Iraq to allow human rights monitors into the whole of the country, especially the south, to report on the situation there in accordance with the request of the United Nations special rapporteur on Iraq but to date Iraq has failed to comply with this request.

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