mr president i fully support recital five to this report
i am involved in such a case in ireland at the moment where a mother has fled her home country of nigeria with her two daughters after her eldest daughter died as a result of female genital mutilation fgm
at the moment her case is before the european court of human rights and the court has written to the irish government either to defend the case or reach what they call a friendly settlement
recital five states that female genital mutilation constitutes a violation of human rights and that an increasing number of asylum requests by parents are justified by the threat to which they may be subject in their own country for having refused to consent to their child undergoing fgm
i hope the court of human rights takes our statement into consideration when delivering its verdict in this case
finally i agree with mr corbett that there has been a lot of talk about democracy here today but for those who take the time and trouble if one adds up the number of people who have voted on the constitution and the lisbon treaty in all the referenda in europe there are in excess of twenty-seven million europeans who have said yes and twenty-four million who have said no
that is democracy in action
