TheCity

Tag: human rights

  • Government’s handling of refugees is ‘a national shame’, says Aontú Dáil hopeful

    Government’s handling of refugees is ‘a national shame’, says Aontú Dáil hopeful

    “The Government welcomed them with open arms, but never provided the resources they need”. Photo: Pexels.

    By Ruadhan Jones

    The Government’s handling of refugees and asylum seekers* is “a national shame”, a candidate standing for Ireland’s newest political party has said.  

    Speaking exclusively to TheCity.ie, Aontú candidate for Cork North-West Becky Kealy said: “These are people who have had to flee their own countries, but their cases aren’t being dealt with in a timely fashion.

    “The Government welcomed them with open arms, but never provided the resources they needed. 

    “I know of people who have spent six years in Direct Provision, with appalling services.”

    Becky Kealy, Aontú candidate for Cork North-West
    (Image credit: Becky Kealy)

    She added that “protests, fear, and hatred’ linked to far-right sentiment arise when the Government fails to consult with locals in areas where refugees and migrants settle.

    Aontú was established just over a year ago by former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóbín.

    The new party stresses Ireland’s responsibility to refugees and migrants – and calls for fairer management of numbers entering the country.

    But Tóbín was criticised for remarking at Aontú’s April 2019 launch that immigration “needs to be managed”.

    The party leader said at the time:

    “There is no doubt there is a growing unease and concern among many people in Ireland around the issue of immigration. 

    “Our view is very simple: there needs to be sustainable levels of immigration in this country. It needs to be managed.”

    He was swiftly criticised by Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty for “courting that area” for electoral support. Doherty added:

    “He is no fool. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

    Tóbín had quit Sinn Féin in November 2018 after clashing with the party over its decision to support the repeal of the Eighth Amendment.

    He’d been an SF member for 21 years and left “with a heavy heart”. 

    In its election manifesto, Aontú identifies two kinds of immigration – refugees and migrants.

    The party promises to shelter refugees “fleeing war, violence or hunger…in line with international law and moral obligation. Anything less would reduce who we are as a people”.

    They also highlight a need to take “climate degradation” and “climate change” into account.

    “Climate degradation is resulting in many people not being able to grow their own food due to drought, loss of soil fertility, polluted drinking water and dead zones in the sea,” Aontú’s manifesto says. 

    Credit: YouTube/Al Jazeera

    “Shortages in food due to climate change have fuelled war and regime changes throughout the developing world,” it adds.

    According to figures from Ireland’s Department of Justice, 70 million people have been forcibly displaced globally.

    In December 2019, Ireland pledged to accept 2,900 people between 2020 and 2023 under the the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).

    However, the Jesuit Refugee Service of Ireland said the State needed to accept an additional 1,500 people per year from 2020 to 2022 – in order to meet the UN’s global resettlement needs.

    Under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), 2015-2019, Ireland promised to take on 4,000 refugees by the end of 2019 – but fell short by around 800.

    According to the Asylum Information Database, Ireland currently houses 6,355 asylum in Direct Provision – though the contracted capacity for the centres is 6,209.

    Twitter/@IrishRefugeeCo

    A further 936 people “are living in temporary accommodation like B&Bs and hostels”, says Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council.

    Becky Kealy also stressed the need for improved infrastructure if Ireland is to take on increased levels of migration.

    The election candidate told TheCity.ie: “We’re well able to provide refuge, but we’re not providing new homes or schools, and the health system is in a crisis already. 

    “How are we to cope given the services and resources in place? 

    “There’s no point bringing in a surplus when we don’t even have the resources to take care of our own.’

    She added that far-right sentiment arises due to lack of consultation by the Government with locals in areas where refugees and migrants settle.

    Kealy said: “Immigrants have so much knowledge and information to share.

    “We can learn from them and they can learn from us. 

    “The Government never consulted with locals – and that’s where protests, fear, and hatred come from.”

    Meanwhile, Tóbín said his party will invest €2.2billion to build 10,000 social homes every year.

    Aontú calls for a sustainable immigration policy, one which balances “population growth and the necessary infrastructural development”.

    “Some people blame immigrants for the scarcity of resources when in truth it is the inept and wasteful policies of this government,” their manifesto says.

     “A sustainable migration plan should have broad democratic support after being discussed honestly and informed by the opinion of genuine experts,” it adds.

    Aontú says it wants to achieve a “reasonable and fair management of numbers entering our country”.

    To do this it will seek to use “mechanisms such as the European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/38/EC”.

    This directive relates to migrants from within the EU, confirming their right to freedom of movement while allowing the host member state to determine issues such as the granting of “social assistance”.

    *According to the UNHCR, refugees are those ‘forced to flee their homes due to armed conflict, human rights violations and persecution and are in need of international protection,’ while migrants ‘are those who choose to move…for a variety of socio-economic reasons.’

    Refugees do not travel in search of economic opportunity but to escape war, persecution, death, torture and rape. They are entitled to the protection and assistance of other states under international law, and under shared principles of human decency.

    Filippo Grandi
    UN High Commissioner for Refugees

  • In her words: from homeless to housed

    In her words: from homeless to housed

    By Robert Geoghegan

    This article consists of both written and spoken word. *Jane’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.

    You could be forgiven if you thought that Dublin city today almost embodies the opening paragraph from Charles Dickens’ book A Tale of Two Cities. Depending on who you talk to, we are nearing the best of times, and again you could ask someone else and they might tell you it is the worst of times.

    *Jane

    Ireland has been in the midst of a housing and rental crisis over the last number of years and consequently, there has been an increase, year-on-year, of people finding themselves homeless.  The preconceived notion that all homeless people are either drug addicts or alcoholics, is a notion that should have been challenged a long time ago.  We now know, or at least we should know, that homelessness could happen to anyone.  The current figures say that a total of 10,275 individuals are in emergency accommodation with nearly 1,000 of them being children. Steadily, more people are finding themselves couch surfing, moving back into their parental home or on the brink of poverty just to pay the rent. 

    This is the story of a young woman called Jane* who found herself through a series of unfortunate circumstances that led to her becoming homeless. For Jane, like most people, her adult life began after she opened her Leaving Cert results. Unfortunately, those results were not what Jane was hoping for. Looking for results to anchor her in the age of wisdom, instead they anchored her in an age of young foolishness, tripping up Jane’s dreams of going to college.

    Moving back into your parents’ home is a thought some might consider.  For many there is a sense of shame moving back, for Jane moving back was the only option.  For a while, everything was back on track and being at home offered stability for Jane and her son if only momentarily.

    The spring of hope, for Jane, turned into the winter of despair. Leaving her mother’s house with nothing but a bag of essentials, having left her son with his father, Jane set out to find somewhere to stay for the night.  What do you do? Where do you go? People say school never prepares you for real life, how to pay taxes or balance a budget. School certainly doesn’t tell you what to do when you find yourself in the precarious situation that is homelessness. Jane found herself ringing her local county council who in turn gave her a free phone number to ring.

    When you ring the number, you are greeted with an automated service. You must wait on the phone as numbers count down to zero. For this, you need a fully charged phone or a phone at all for that matter. You then wait until it counts all the way down to 1 and if you are lucky, you’ll have a bed for the night. Most people above the number 50 usually don’t receive one. Upon finding herself lucky enough to get a bed for the night, the reality of Jane’s situation set in.

    Incredulously for Jane, the people staying at the shelter had jobs. They were regular people in difficult circumstances. People you wouldn’t take a second glance at, people you walk beside on the way to work or even work with.

    All throughout her homeless ordeal, Jane was trying to complete a degree course to become a secondary school teacher. Jane found her grades slipping and felt a sense of shame while on her teaching placement; teaching the youth of tomorrow how to best lead their lives, Jane couldn’t help feeling like a fraud and ashamed at finding herself homeless. The emotional strain became too difficult as she juggled being homeless, a single mom away from her child, and a student; so, she decided to defer.

    Things began looking up for Jane when her Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) was accepted by a landlord. HAP is a form of social housing support for people who have long-term housing needs. With this new form of security things began to turn around for Jane.

    She considers herself one of the lucky ones as she managed to transition from being homeless to a private rental accommodation and in the end, managed to finish her degree.

    But the threat of homelessness remains a very real threat for Jane. With the continued rental costs spiralling out of control, who knows how long the best of times will last.

  • Asylum seekers left out in the cold

    Asylum seekers left out in the cold

    immigrationThis nation’s ability to ignore longstanding and continuous violations of human rights has once again made headlines this week. Our Direct Provision system for accommodating asylum seekers has come under serious criticism after recent inspection reports have showed evidence of over-crowding, poor hygiene standards and poor fire safety standards across multiple asylum centres.

    Under our current system, asylum seekers are provided with full board (food and accommodation), and a weekly allowance of €19.10 per adult and €9.60 per child. Asylum seekers are not entitled to work in this country or to apply for rent allowance to live outside of a Direct Provision centre. This system was designed to meet the basic needs of people for a temporary period while their application for refugee status is being processed.

    However current inspection reports have revealed that the average time spent by asylum seekers in these hostel-style centres is three years and eight months. A backlog of thousands of applications has resulted in, in some centres, families of six being forced to share one bedroom.  Parallels are being drawn between these conditions and those found in the Magdalene laundries.

    Despite making headlines this week, this is not news. The  Direct Provision system has been attracting harsh criticisms almost since its inception. Within the first year of the establishment of the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), which was set up to provide Direct Provision, a report was published which addressed the extreme poverty and exclusion experienced by children in the system. ‘Beyond the Pale’, published in 2001, addresses the fact that Ireland was failing to conform to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.Image

    The report stated, “Asylum seekers in direct provision may experience extreme deprivation as a result of inadequate diet and inability to afford the purchase of sufficient and appropriate food from their incomes.” It also highlighted problems such as overcrowding, stress, depression, social exclusion, racism and malnutrition.

    Not only does it seem that little has been done to change our system, Ireland is actively choosing not to improve its system by opting out of the laws which will form the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This new system includes the Reception Conditions Directive, which requires a common standard for living conditions in asylum centres and requires member states to grant asylum seekers faster access to employment (or in our case, to grant them access in the first place). This decision puts Ireland even further out of line with the standards employed by EU member states.

    So, the question remains; why is Ireland so unwilling to provide asylum seekers with basic human rights? The uncomfortable truth may well be that we as a nation continue to harbor closeted racist attitudes towards asylum seekers, and simply don’t care enough to campaign for better immigration policies.

    556px-Alan_Shatter
    Minister for Justice Alan Shatter

    Dr. Liam Thornton of UCD addressed this on humanrights.ie, claiming that TDs who had campaigned for an end to Direct Provision had actually lost support, “not just a few votes here and there, but very noticeable support.”

    The Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter (despite previously opposing the Direct Provisions system) has said that the system is the best we can provide given our current economic conditions. Most Irish citizens would probably agree with him. But like it or not, Ireland has an obligation under international law to ensure the basic human rights of asylum seekers are being met, and until Direct Provision is axed, we won’t be meeting that obligation.