Sir, – A recently released report by the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, highlights the extent to which war, violence, persecution, and famine are forcing people from their homes. At a global level, 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced; in fact the figure of 10.3 million people was calculated for last year alone. The hypocritical response from the West is a “Fortress Europe”, with increased military spending, amid attempts at concealing massive human rights abuse in detention centres in Turkey and north Africa.
This UN report Global Trends highlights the human suffering caused mainly by US/Nato foreign policy, including destabilisation and military intervention in northern Africa and the Middle East, especially in Syria, where 12 million people, almost a third of the population there, have been displaced.
We in Ireland are equally culpable for these global trends, as our Government continues to allow Shannon Airport to be used as a US military base where over 2½ million US troops have passed through on their way to and from their various imperialist wars.
In Northern Ireland, Jeffrey Donaldson MP, the DUP defence spokesman, insists that party’s support for any future UK Conservative government necessitates a clear commitment to the 2 per cent GDP military spending, now at £38 billion, and continued support for the Nato military alliance.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Those of us who advocate peace and neutrality demand real debate on these global trends, but we are up against corporate interests who demand a fortress and imperialist mindset. – Yours, etc,
ROGER COLE,
Chairman,
Peace and
Neutrality Alliance,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.