Update: Air Crash in Ukraine – Foreign Affairs 7th October, 2014

Question No. 429

Parliamentary Question – Oireachtas
　
To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the international community is focused to address issues such as the intimidation of relatives of victims of the air crash in the Ukraine by masked, hooded and armed personnel who impeded the victims’ relatives in their attempts to recover the bodies of their loved ones; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
– Bernard J. Durkan.
* For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 7th October, 2014.
Ref No: 38220/14 Proof: 488

REPLY

The downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 over eastern Ukraine on 17 July, which resulted in the tragic loss of 298 innocent lives, was met with universal shock and condemnation.

The terrible incident was uppermost in our minds when Ministers met at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 22 July. We expressed our deep sadness at the tragic event and conveyed our condolences to the people and governments of the many countries affected and in particular to the families of the victims.

Together with my EU partners, I called on the separatist groups to ensure full, immediate and secure access to the crash site and surrounding area. We emphasised the need for a viable security corridor to enable the process of victim identification to begin without delay and to permit the recovery of the possessions of the victims and the professional and dignified repatriation of their remains. We also made it clear that the EU expected all those in the area to preserve the crash site intact, including by refraining from destroying, moving, or disturbing remains, wreckage, equipment, debris or personal belongings.

The Council endorsed UN Security Council Resolution 2166, which Ireland co-sponsored, calling for a full, transparent and independent investigation into the crash in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines.

We also underlined the need for those directly and indirectly responsible for bringing down the plane to be held accountable and brought to justice.  

The Dutch Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the crash, presented its Preliminary Report to the International Civil Aviation Organisation on 9 September.   A Final Report is expected to be published in 2015.