Recent debates over the admission of asylum seekers have focused attention on government policies that support international protection.
According to international law, people who apply for asylum here can do so under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. can do.
People can apply for asylum wherever they think they can get protection, and more than 13,200 people sought international protection in Ireland last year, 400 fewer than the year before.
Integration Minister Roderick O’Gorman said that figure of up to 15,000 was likely to become the “new normal”, but independent senator and former justice minister Michael McDowell said that in the housing crisis, “It’s intolerable,” he said.
Mr McDowell said: ‘Ireland is in the midst of a housing crisis, where population growth and legal immigration are causing serious infrastructure and housing problems, and why can we just sit back and say we have 15,000 people? I can’t go there,” he said. That is the new normal for asylum seekers and we do nothing about it. ”
The rise in asylum seekers is not just an Irish phenomenon, but is occurring across the EU.
Some have described this as an ‘immigration crisis’, but Maynooth University’s Professor Mary Gilmartin says that while rapid increases in population and movement can be seen as a crisis, it is nothing new. Stated.
“A crisis means that it is temporary and will end. Movement of people is normal, so we treat migration as something that happens all the time, and we have procedures and policies in place to ensure that migration is meaningful. “We should try to understand it as a real thing,” she said, “and not always see it as a crisis, but as a daily activity.”
The top five countries applying for asylum in Ireland in 2023 were Nigeria, Algeria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Georgia.
Georgia was declared a safe country of origin in 2018, but except during the pandemic, Georgians remain among the top five nationalities seeking international protection.
In November 2022, Justice Minister Helen McEntee introduced a system to process applications more quickly at the International Protection Office, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of Georgians seeking asylum here.
The list, which the minister said will expand, also includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro (former Yugoslavia), Serbia and South Africa.
Ireland is not part of the Schengen Area, and Georgia is not part of the EU (although it recently became a candidate). This means Georgians need a visa to enter the country.
So why did they apply for asylum in Ireland?
They want to work, said Georgian Ambassador George Zurabashvili.
He points out that there are plenty of jobs in Ireland with good salaries and in areas such as the construction sector where Georgians have good skills.
Zurabashvili acknowledged that the application for international protection was “not correct” but said he was working to prevent it.
For example, the Georgian government recently appointed a police attaché to its embassy in Dublin to work in collaboration with gardaí and “agencies dealing with asylum seekers.”
According to the ambassador, this is working well. The ambassador also said he hopes Georgians will be able to access jobs through the visa system.
The Ambassador said that the people of Georgia do not want to be a waste of the Irish government, the Irish people and Irish society.
“I am trying to encourage the Irish government to waive visas for Georgians. If visas were waived, there would be no asylum seekers at all,” the ambassador said.
Ambassador Zurabashvili has approached Senator McDowell to make his case, and the former justice minister believes it will be beneficial.
“I have no problem with legal immigration. I think legal immigration is essential for medical services, entertainment, food and distribution services at this time.
“If you look around you right now, you can see 100 percent that legal immigration is contributing to this country’s economic growth and creating resources to address poverty,” McDowell said.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee does not appear to be in favor of waiving safe country visas.
In fact, since she introduced fast tracking in the IPO, the number of Georgians seeking asylum has decreased.
However, the ambassador said this was also due to the efforts of the Georgian government, which is offering incentives to Georgians to return to their country.
“In order to eradicate, avoid and prevent illegal immigration from Georgia, we have made many different amendments to Georgian legislation and adopted new laws by the Georgian parliament,” Zurabashvili said.
Ms McEntee said the international protection system was for people fleeing war or persecution and should not be used by economic migrants.
Although there is no official data to prove that people are coming illegally for work, the 2017 ESRI report on the involvement of non-nationals in Ireland’s illegal employment sector suggests that illegal work is a major draw for some immigrants coming from the EU. It is concluded that this is a recognized factor for There were no official data showing the extent of the problem in Ireland.
Minister McEntee plans to expand the number of safe countries of origin.
This has been criticized by the Irish Asylum Seeker Movement, which believes that creating a safer country is an effort to deter people from seeking protection in Ireland.
Spokesman Lucky Kumble said it took until 2018 for asylum seekers to be given the opportunity to work after six months in Ireland.
He points out that the expanded list of safe countries means more people will not be able to work in a country long enough.
He said: “It’s outrageous. It seems like the minister is trying every possible way to exclude immigrants from the population.”
“No one knows what criteria are used to determine that these countries are safe, but these countries are will be subject to strict measures.”
Minister McEntee recognized that the system was not perfect and noted that efforts were being made to improve it.
“In the last year alone, the number of people entering Ireland without documents has fallen by around a third,” she said.
The minister confirmed that gardaí are currently in “hotspots” where people come from across the EU.
Although many point to the 2015 Dublin III Regulation as a means of controlling migration within the EU, it is widely accepted that it is not working.
The regulation allows EU member states to ask another country to accept responsibility for an asylum application if the person has previously been involved with that country.
This regulation does not impose any obligations on individual asylum seekers. This is a mechanism within the EU to ensure that an applicant has access to an asylum process in a single, well-defined EU member state.
Dublin III aims to establish the member state responsible for examining asylum applications.
However, there is no requirement under the Refugee Convention that you must apply for asylum in the first safe country you arrive.
The ultimate question under the Refugee Convention is whether a person has a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their country or place of origin.
The purpose of the Dublin III Regulation is to ensure that applicants have access to asylum procedures in a single, well-defined EU Member State.
The criteria for establishing responsibility are family considerations in hierarchical order. Evidence of recent possession of a visa or residence permit in a Member State and where the applicant entered the EU irregularly or regularly.
If liability based on these criteria cannot be established, the Member State in which the application was originally filed will normally be responsible.
However, the Ministry of Justice said that, in fact, all member states have long recognized that it is extremely difficult to make remittances within the period specified in the regulation.
“In many cases, it will be impossible to establish that another specific Member State is responsible, even if it is assumed that the applicant transited through another Member State.”
There is broad consensus across the EU that this regulation is not effective and that agreeing to reform it is a key focus of negotiations under a new Asylum and Migration Agreement.
International Protection Agency personnel and resources have also been increased, allowing decisions on applications to be made more quickly.
We have doubled our ability to interview applicants at the IPO office.
To expedite the process, 20 additional interview rooms have been opened in recent days.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Integration is working to find accommodation for the new arrivals, and larger state accommodation facilities are being planned.
Details are yet to be revealed, but Lucky Kumble remains silent.
“Remember that the current conditions in direct supply centres, emergency centers and tents where people are living are terrible,” he said.
Now that the White Paper on Direct Provision has been put on hold, there are calls to think collectively about immigration.
Minister McEntee said there was a whole-of-government approach to this issue and that while it was “difficult”, everyone was working to ensure the system was fair and strong.
However, Senator McDowell believes that “good, well-constructed policies” are needed to “meet the economic and social needs” of the country.
Without it, he said, there would be “huge political casualties” in upcoming regional and European elections.