| |
Director JRS
Ireland releases paper on Irish Immigration Bill
.jpg) DECEMBER
09 - "JRS Ireland shares the concern of many other advocates
that the Bill’s emphasis on combating unfounded asylum claims
will result in denying genuine protection applicants the right
to seek protection and the right to a full and fair hearing",
says JRS Ireland Director Eugene Quinn in the December issue of
'Working Notes' (Irish Jesuit publication).
Entitled 'The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008:
Well-Founded Fears ?', the paper outlines reservations
concerning five key issues contained in the Bill: the 'inherent
tension' between protection provisions and and general
immigration provisions; legislative proposals that do not ensure
humanitarian leave to remain will continue to be a component of
the protection framework; that greater regard is not given to
vulnerable people seeking protection; legislation does not
provide for increased recourse to non-custodial alternatives to
detention; and there is a greater role for positive immigration
measures that offer people from outside the EEA a legal
route to reside and work in Ireland.
Released in January 2008, the provisions in the Bill represented
a number of improvements to the Irish asylum system, with the
then Minister for Justice, Mr Brian Lenihan, stating that the
bill offered "an integrated statutory framework for the
development and implementation of Government immigration
policies into the future".
The bill received a lukewarm reception from Irish humanitarian
and aid organisations, with concern expressed concerning
provision regarding detention, carrier sanctions, ministerial
discretion, and the operation of the Protection Review
Tribunal and judicial review.
To see report
'The Immigration,
Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Well-Founded Fears?'
- click here.
******************************************************************************************************
RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 14 BY JRS-IRELAND
Trends
in Irish and EU asylum policy will lead to injustices,
says Jesuit Refugee Service
People fleeing persecution in their own countries are more
likely to be denied the protection they are entitled to, under
changes being brought before the Dáil, according to a Catholic
agency dealing with refugees. The Director of Jesuit Refugee
Service (JRS) in Ireland, Eugene Quinn, said the State’s concern
about unfounded asylum claims, while legitimate, can however
lead to injustices against those who are genuinely faced with
persecution. His statement marks International Jesuit Refugee
Service Day, on Friday November 14th.
He said that asylum
policies in Ireland and the EU are being shaped by a worryingly
restrictive approach. This limits both the opportunity to enter
to the territory to seek protection, and the chance of being
granted protection for those who do get that far. Their right to
a full and fair hearing of their claim is also affected.
Mr Quinn said that several provisions of the
Immigration, Residency and Protection Bill 2008, which is
currently before the Dáil, exemplify this restrictive approach
to asylum – for example, the provisions regarding
border controls, immigration-related detention, access to
judicial review of asylum decisions, and the removal process.
Speaking to mark the publication of,
Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Well-Founded
Fears?, which analyses the
protection provisions of the Bill in the context of the evolving
European policy approach. Mr Quinn said that some of the Bill’s
provisions, including the introduction of a single procedure for
determining refugee status and other forms of protection, do
represent welcome progress. Nevertheless, he said, it seems
clear that there will be persons deserving of the protection of
the State who will not meet the criteria for protection under
the new single procedure.
In this
context, the fact that the Bill replaces the power of the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to grant
‘humanitarian leave to remain’, with a provision that the
Minister may grant ‘protection’ where there are ‘compelling
reasons’ is of considerable concern to JRS Ireland. Mr Quinn
said: “It is retrograde and worrying step that the Bill
does not specifically provide that a person may apply to the
Minister for permission to stay in the State on humanitarian
grounds.”
He went on to say that JRS Ireland was disappointed the
Government had not seized the opportunity provided by the
introduction of new legislation to make a decisive move away
from the use of detention for asylum seekers entering the state.
“Non-custodial alternatives would be far less costly in
financial and human terms than the wholly inappropriate
detention of asylum seekers within the prison system”, he said.
The JRS publication draws attention to the fact that in
2007 the number of asylum claims received by EU Member States
was half the level in 2001. Mr Quinn said that despite the fact
that the EU is officially committed to developing a ‘Common
European Asylum System’, there are notable variations between
countries in the protections offered, giving rise to the what
some critics have called ‘the lottery of asylum’ in Europe.
He said that JRS Ireland acknowledges the reality that there are
‘mixed flows’ of migrant workers and protection applicants into
developed countries and that this gives rise to genuine problems
for the authorities in these countries. He said that it was
understandable that this reality would shape the approach of
governments but added: “If the net result is that genuine asylum
applicants are denied access to the territory, or to a fair
hearing, then the human costs of such a policy approach are
unacceptable”.
In the case of Ireland, he said, the Employment Permits Act 2006
effectively closed a legal route for migration into the country
for the vast majority of people outside the European Economic
Area. Mr. Quinn commented: “Such a restrictive approach is not
only ultimately inefficient but is prone to creating injustices
in individual cases. Offering a permanent legal route for
migration into Ireland, perhaps through a quota or points
system, could be part of a fairer and more durable solution.”
|
