VP/HR — Alleged forced sterilisations in India
13.5.2013
Question for written answer E-005190-13
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 117
Gay Mitchell (PPE) , Filip Kaczmarek (PPE) , Liam Aylward (ALDE) , Barbara Matera (PPE) , Sari Essayah (PPE) , Diane Dodds (NI) , Charles Tannock (ECR) , Anna Záborská (PPE) , Vytautas Landsbergis (PPE) , Nirj Deva (ECR) , Miroslav Mikolášik (PPE) , Konrad Szymański (ECR)
According to human rights organisations and news reports, the Indian government is permitting a programme that forcibly sterilises women. It was reported in February 2013 that 103 women were sterilised by two doctors in one day at the Manikchak Rural Health Centre in the Malda district of West Bengal, in appalling conditions and without any medical follow‐up[1]. Indian human rights activists claim that mass sterilisation camps exist across the country. India denies having targets for sterilisations. However, it has been alleged that such targets are set by local health administrators[2]. The Guardian newspaper reported in April 2012 that foreign aid has helped pay for the programme which forcibly sterilises women[3].
1. Will the Vice-President/High Representative ensure that the Commission calls on the Indian government to actively prohibit forced sterilisations and prevent any sterilisation quotas being pursued?
2. Will the Vice-President/High Representative ensure that aid from the EU and its Member States does not fund such programmes?
- [1] http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/103-women-sterilised-in-a-day-at-west-bengal-hospital-probe-ordered-327538.
- [2] http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/12/india-target-driven-sterilization-harming-women.
- [3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/15/uk-aid-forced-sterilisation-india.
OJ C 80 E, 19/03/2014