Human rights and trade

That trade promotion and an ethical foreign policy are uneasy bedfellows has been clearly apparent during the Taoiseach's visits this week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates with a strong delegation of Irish companies. Ireland's interests in trade policy as a central source of employment creation coming out of the recent economic crisis are to the fore. Important and welcome contracts have been announced, potentially securing thousands of jobs over the next five years. But the visits have also attracted criticism from those who say trade policy should not be separated from issues such as the inferior role of women or exploitation of migrant workers in these states. How far can Irish trade policy be separated from human rights concerns?

Defending their approach Mr Kenny and Mr Bruton insist they are on a trade visit and that human rights issues are dealt with in policy arenas like the European Union or the United Nations. While they have raised such concerns directly with their hosts they are not regarded as primary. There is a working assumption they can be dealt with more fully and adequately elsewhere. Any clash between competing values requires an overall coherence across these distinct arenas, not within any one of them. Such an approach allows policy-makers maximise trade opportunities on trips like these without having to rank them in relation to alternative priorities.

It is a convenient way to pursue trade interests, reflecting a separation from values projected in other areas of foreign policy. And since political decisions have given much greater prominence in recent years to trade issues, such a differentiation is readily made. Yet that is too easy an option. However important the Gulf area is as a potential market for Irish trade and investment and as an economic partner with an already extensive connection to this country, there must be room for a more coherent consideration of relevant human rights issues in the relationship. They should be raised in direct contacts on missions such as this, as Mr Kenny says he has done, but marginally. And they should be dealt with too in appropriate European Union and United Nations fora.

To do so is to take seriously the need for consistency in Irish foreign policy as expressed bilaterally with these states and in international organisations and diplomacy. The fact that these issues have been highlighted by media and public opinion is a good sign that economic interests do not automatically trump other values. These rich Gulf states are playing a more prominent role in Middle East and international politics and must expect more critical attention to their human rights records as they engage more deeply. There is no contradiction between Ireland’s trade and human rights policies in this setting.