The Catholic bishops of Ireland have raised concerns about the new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 which is currently being debated in the Dáil. In a statement released at the end of their spring meeting earlier this week, the bishops said the bill contains many provisions of concern relating to both asylum and immigration.
Unlike the first draft of the Bill which dealt only with immigration, the current draft deals also with asylum (protection), despite the very different regulations and international obligations relating to each, particularly regarding the right to enter the country.
“Overall, there is an anxiety that the Bill allows for the disproportionate use of ‘ministerial discretion’. Also, significant areas relating to asylum and immigration policy and procedures are not covered in primary legislation,” said their press statement.
Sr Joan Roddy, Refugee Officer with the Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs (ICJSA) said there were “substantive aspects” of the bill which were not included in the bill, but which, they were told, were in “policy statements “but those policy statements have not yet been drawn up.”
“So when people are voting in the Dáil, they won’t know what they are voting on.”
Sr Roddy said that aspects relating to asylum, procuring visas, family re-unification and detention may not be put in the bill, but be put instead in the policy statements.
“And at a later stage those (statements) can be changed, and we always fear they will be more restrictive, without ever going through Dáil scrutiny.”
In their statement the bishops said they were concerned about the issue of family re-unification. They point out that in the bill, minor refugees are not allowed apply to be reunited here with their siblings, “placing parents in the dilemma of having to choose between joining their child/ren in Ireland or remaining in their country of origin with their other child/ren.”
Ireland is the only EU State which does not have migrants’ right to family reunification enshrined in primary legislation, said their statement. Where applications for family reunification have been unsuccessful, the Bill fails to provide for the right of appeal.
In relation to the provision protecting suspected victims of trafficking, the bishops suggest an extension of the proposed reflection period from 45 days to 6 months, with the possibility of granting temporary residency on humanitarian grounds, irrespective of whether or not the trafficked person is in a position to co-operate with the authorities in the prosecution of the traffickers.
In relation to the increased powers of detention allowed for in the bill, they point out that it allows for the possible detention of children which is in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“UN High Commission for Refugees guidelines allow for detention only in exceptional circumstances and for minimal periods,” the statement adds.
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