Sinn Féin MLA To Travel To Egypt To Meet Palestinian Evacuees

Sinn Féin National Chairperson, Declan Kearney MLA, is to travel to Cairo, Egypt, to meet Palestinian evacuees from Gaza as part of an international diplomatic delegation.

The evacuees include those hospitalised due to injuries from Israel's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. The delegation will also assess the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.

Representatives from the South African and Brazilian governments will join the delegation, which will meet with legal and human rights groups, non-governmental organisations including UNRWA and the Red Crescent, as well as representatives of the Egyptian government, from 28 July to 1 August 2024. Speaking ahead of the visit, Declan Kearney said: "I welcome this important opportunity to join with representatives of the South African and Brazilian governments, among others, to meet with those who have directly experienced Israeli aggression in Gaza and have since evacuated to Egypt. Our diplomatic delegation to Cairo will meet with UNWRA, other non governmental organisations, human rights advocates, and legal experts.

"This mission to Cairo will listen to, and learn directly from, victims of Israel’s systematic practices of genocide, apartheid, detention, and torture in Gaza. We will also meet with the Egyptian government to discuss its efforts to support the needs of the Palestinian refugees. Our visit will bring an important international focus to the humanitarian plight of Palestinian people who have been forcefully displaced from their homes in Gaza to Egypt.

"My participation in this international delegation reflects Sinn Féin’s close working relationship with South Africa, and other key international partners, to promote Palestinian human and national rights, to secure a comprehensive ceasefire and a permanent peace process, which guarantees full Palestinian national sovereignty.

"The ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment being inflicted upon the Palestinian people must be stopped. It is time for world leaders to apply the political pressure and sanctions required to stop Israel’s war machine in Palestine."