The G8
leaders meeting this week in Co Fermanagh can help end world hunger by
preventing multinational companies avoid tax, the Archbishop of York has
said.
The Most Reverend John Sentamu
called on the G8 to close tax loopholes because “too many unscrupulous
businesses” are robbing people in third world countries of education,
health, food, and employment.
The drain on
developing countries from corporate tax avoidance outweighs the support
they receive through international development aid, Dr Sentamu told the
congregation at St Macartin’s Cathedral in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.
He also called for greater transparency in
international political decision making. “Decisions that affect millions
of people are made behind closed doors without the participation of the
people affected by them,” he said.
Land in poorer countries should be used for agriculture instead of fuel, he continued.
“The
poorest farmers are losing their land to huge corporations”. He added:
“If we pursue our global leaders to make this happen and if they do
there really will be enough food for everyone.”
Dr
Sentamu also suggested the introduction of a special shopping card for
people in industrialised countries which would automatically donate a
percentage of any supermarket food transaction to food aid programs in
the developing world.
He said the proceeds would go towards a “global
monetary food insurance”, to ensure that “nobody in our global village
goes hungry”.
The G8 annual meeting of global leaders will convene at a resort on the
shores of Lough Erne today. The summit will last for two days and the
issues of tax and transparency are reportedly high on the agenda.
Anti-G8
protests took place in Belfast throughout the weekend and further
protests are expected in Enniskillen today, less than 10 km from the
where the meeting will take place.
Organisers expect about 3,000
demonstrators to turn up, an ambitious figure considering the Belfast
event attracted approximately 1,500 protesters.
Some
£50 million has been spent on security ahead of the meeting.
An extra
3,600 police officers have been drafted into the North from Britain
while a total of about 8,000 police officers will be on summit duty.
An
11km security fence has been erected around the Lough Erne resort and
no fly zones are also in place for the summit. Some 900 gardaí have been
deployed around the Border for the event
Protesters
have set up camp at Broadmeadow green in the town but by yesterday
evening numbers were very thin on the ground, with about five tents and
less than a dozen demonstrators.
“There’s supposed
to be other groups coming along, but it’s so hard to tell” one
protester said, adding that he “expected there to be more here by now.”
Campaign
groups and left-wing political parties are expected to transport the
bulk of the protesters to the town today on buses from Belfast, Derry
and various cities in the Republic.