WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3397/98 by Guido PODESTÀ to the Commission. The new role of the Third Age
C 142/128 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 21. 5. 1999 (1999/C 142/161) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3388/98 by Wilfried Telkämper (V) to the Commission (17 November 1998) Subject: Security of NGO staff in India How safe are citizens of EU Member States in India at present, particularly workers with NGOs in general and Christian organisations in particular, in view of increasing attacks by various Hindu organisations on members of other faiths, and of the growth of anti-Western propaganda? Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (10 December 1998) The international press and the Commission’s delegation in New Delhi have extensively reported on the increased incidence of attacks on Christian families, attributed mainly to alleged Christian missionary activities. These events occur mainly in the north of the country where the Hindu nationalist party, BJP, has its strongholds. According to the South Asia human rights documentation centre, a non governmental organisation (NGO) located in New Delhi, this is a serious and growing problem, the extent of which is still being assessed. The attacks are not necessarily related to activities of Christian NGOs. Member States’ ambassadors have recently expressed their concern in this regard to the joint secretary at the ministry of Foreign Affairs at New Delhi, who confirmed that the government will take all the necessary actions to suppress these activities and protect Community citizens and foreign workers from such criminal acts. The government of India has this year set up a national commission for minorities, which is charged in particular with the protection of religious minorities in India, and it follows up complaints received. Although the national commission for minorities has no judicial powers, it is hoped that it will exert the necessary added moral and public support and pressure, and thus exert a restraining influence on extremist groups. Potential risks to the security of Community citizens working in India, especially for Christian and other NGOs need to be carefully assessed in their local context in India. (1999/C 142/162) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3397/98 by Guido Podestà (PPE) to the Commission (17 November 1998) Subject: The new role of the Third Age There are now many studies, both Community-wide and within individual Member States, showing the exponential increase in the number of elderly people and the consequent ageing of the Union’s population; the statistics indicate that in the first decade of the next century there will be the same number of elderly people and young people and, if the trend is not reversed, ten years later one person in three will be over the age of 60. In the light of this demographic trend, and bearing in mind Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which explicitly states the intention of the Community institutions to combat discrimination based on age, and also Article 137 of the same treaty, which provides for the adoption of measures intended to encourage cooperation among the Member States with the aim of combating social exclusion, and also recalling the call made by the President of the European Parliament, Mr José María Gil-Robles, at the Senior Citizens’ Conference on 1 and 2 October this year, for Europe to take note of these circumstances: