ROS O'LOUGHLIN,
Sir, - The issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) has been raised in your paper, in two very different contexts over the past few days. The first was in relation to the Johannesburg Earth Summit. An amendment to the text was made, supported by the EU, which linked healthcare with human rights in order to avoid giving legitimacy to the practice of FGM. We see this as a very positive step towards the goal of elimination of FGM worldwide.
The second was the report of a demonstration by the Union of Students in Ireland appealing against a deportation order against a young Nigerian woman, Christina, who fled her country to avoid FGM. In Nigeria, although there is a law against FGM, it is still widely practised.
Ireland has, as part of the EU delegation to the Earth Summit, on the one hand endorsed the inclusion of "conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the provision of healthcare, but on other hand it is proposing to deport this young woman. If she is deported, she will face a situation in which she is at great risk of being denied her human rights, and in which her health is at risk. Although we do not know the full facts of this particular case, this is an issue that is likely to recur.
To address this dual standard, Comhlámh calls on the Government to begin a programme of education for policy-makers and legislators who are involved in the decision-making process with regard to asylum claims and who need to understand the complexity of the issue of FGM, along with specific legislation against the practice in Ireland. - Yours, etc.,
FRANCES O'KEEFE,
Comhlámh Health and
Development Group,
Upper Camden Street,
Dublin 2.