Friday, February 02, 2007

Asylum Seekers in Limbo

Ireland's treatment of asylum seekers is unique in the European Union, as we are currently the only country which puts them in prison alongside criminals, according to Fr Tony O'Riordan of the Jesuit Faith and Justice Centre.

'Most people would think that prisons are only for the guilty,' Fr O'Riordan said. However, between 2003 and 2005, 3,500 asylum seekers have been imprisoned while they wait for their asylum applications to be processed. At present, only about 10 per cent of asylum applications are granted.

He was reacting to statements made last weekend by Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Micheal McDowell regarding the forthcoming Immigration and Residence Protection Bill.

Minister McDowell said that he was considering implementing a scheme, similar to the system used in the UK, whereby a selected number of 'high risk' asylum applicants would be detained until their claims are fully processed. According to Fr O'Riordan, many such asylum seekers are already detained in prisons.

He described Minister McDowell's proposals to treat asylum seekers from certain countries differently as 'dangerous'.

'It potentially undermines the individual right to asylum and it could encourage xenophobia,' Fr O'Riordan continued.

He went on to point out that the perception that asylum seekers were 'coming here for welfare treats' was a distortion of the truth. In fact, most asylum seekers were housed in 'direct provision' centres, where their food and other needs were met directly, he said. They were not allowed to work. The result was that grown adults had 'no meaningful activity' during the day.

'Health officials are concerned about the effects of this on the mental health of these asylum seekers,' Fr O'Riordan said, adding that there was also a concern about how seeing parents in this environment would affect the children of asylum seekers.

'It's quite a dehumanising process, they aren't allowed to work and they have few integration opportunities. Their lives are in limbo.'

Fr O'Riordan pointed out that the concentration on the 'asylum problem' made little sense in the context of overall immigration numbers.

'Because of our European Union commitments, we have little control over most migration into the country,' he said. In this context, it made little sense to target asylum seekers, who composed a small fraction of overall immigration.

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