My predecessor, my right honourable friend Ian McCartney, committed in 2006 to make a Statement to the House once the UK National Contact Point had completed its investigation into DAS Air’s behaviour in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The complaint was submitted to the UK National Contact Point under the auspices of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by the non-government organisation RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development) on 28 April 2005.

I am therefore happy to fulfil that commitment. The UK National Contact Point today published the final statement on the DAS Air complaint. The National Contact Point concluded that DAS Air:

failed to apply due diligence when transporting minerals from Entebbe and Kigali, which had a reasonable probability of being sourced from the conflict zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); and

undertook flights between Entebbe airport and the conflict zone in eastern DRC. These flights coincided with an illegal occupation of the area by the Ugandan military, during a period when the United Nations and NGOs recorded human rights abuses. A flight ban between DRC and Entebbe was in place during the applicable period, meaning that these flights were in direct contravention of international aviation conventions (the Chicago Convention).

The NCP upheld the allegations brought by Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) and concluded that DAS Air had failed to meet the requirements of the guidelines.