Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe TD, has stated his concern about human rights implications after Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ensured that the EU-Philippines Framework Agreement was ratified by the Dáil.

The deal will allow exchange of intelligence and information to the Filipino police, who have been implicated in a campaign to assassinate suspected drug dealers and drug attics in that country, which has claimed thousands of lives.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“The EU regularly negotiates these Framework or Partnership Agreements with third countries. They generally contain proposals to improve diplomatic and economic ties.

“As we have seen with similar EU Agreement with Israel, Colombia, and Morocco, they also generally have some token paragraphs on the need to respect human rights, but these inevitably are never enforced or acted upon.

“This particular agreement contains worrying aspects around the EU supporting the Philippines in counter-terror and anti-crime measures. This is being agreed against a backdrop where the Government of the Philippines has unleashed a campaign of extra-judicial killings by the police, of people they accuse of using or selling drugs, and is moving to re-introduce the death penalty. This terror campaigns is reported to have caused the deaths of up to 7,000 people.

“The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has went on TV and boasted to the media about his own personal involvement in extra-judicial killings.

“This is not a Government that the EU should be agreeing to work with on anti-crime and counter-terror measures, or share intelligence with.

“It is regrettable but not surprising that Fianna Fáil facilitated their Government coalition partners, Fine Gael, to ensure that this flawed EU-Philippines Framework was ratified by the Dáil without debate.”

ENDS