This page will highlight reports, articles, lectures and talks on current themes in the asylum process and matters that relate to immigrants/asylum-seekers/refugees.

Contents

Law Report

(compiled by Nasc Legal Group, October 2000)

(given by Brendan Hennessy, Nasc Coordinator, to AVONDHU Development Group, Mallow, 8/6/01)

(given by Brendan Hennessy at TOSACH seminar, Dublin, 25/5/01)

(figures from the Department of Justice)

Since the opening of NASC in June 2000, there have been a number of important developments in the area of asylum law. Unfortunately, many of these developments have reduced the level of human rights protection for asylum seekers in Ireland.

In the last year, the Government's legislative program has focused on 'control and security issues', neglecting and often eroding the fundamental rights of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants in Ireland. On August 28th, the Supreme Court upheld what has been described as one of the most draconian pieces of legislation yet to be introduced into Irish law. The Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Bill, 1999 confers an extended power of arrest and detention on an immigration officer or a member of the Garda in relation to any person against whom a deportation order is in force. The Bill introduces a form of preventive detention. A Garda or immigration officer who suspects that a person will not comply with a deportation order, has the power to detain that person for up to 8 weeks. This opens up the possibility of individuals being detained, despite the fact that they have not committed any unlawful act. Many believe that this new power may be contrary to European and international human rights law. The detention of asylum seekers in the UK and Australia has already been heavily criticised by United Nations Human Rights bodies. The Bill also reduces to 14 days the time-limit within which asylum-seekers can seek a judicial review of decisions refusing an application for asylum. Usually, 3 months are given for such applications and many believe that a time-limit of 14 days is simply unworkable.

Criticisms have also been made of the initial stages of the asylum process. On the 7th September, the Irish Refugee Council published a report: Asylum in Ireland: A Report of the Fairness and Sustainability of Asylum Determinations at First Instance. The Report highlights the lack of training for assessors, the lack of knowledge of human rights situations in refugee-producing countries, the lack of training on issues of sexual violence and the high number of applications that are rejected because of minor inconsistencies. At present more than 90% of applications are rejected at first instance. Approximately one-third of applications are successful following an appeal to the independent Appeals Authority.

The Report also highlights the difficulties in getting access to legal services, particularly for asylum-seekers who are involuntarily 'dispersed' outside of the Dublin area. Asylum-seekers arriving since June are being given interviews within 4 - 6 weeks of their arrival in Ireland. As a result, many are attending interviews at the Department of Justice without having received legal advice. An increasing number of applications are being rejected as "manifestly unfounded". Anyone receiving such a refusal is given only 7 days to make an appeal. Again, people living outside of Dublin are significantly disadvantaged by this requirement.

Difficulties are also arising with applications for the right to residence in Ireland, for parents of Irish-born children or spouses of Irish / EU nationals. At present, these applications are taking 5-6 months to process. Delays are also being experienced within the Social Welfare system. Although asylum-seekers are entitled to social welfare payments such as Child Benefit, One-Parent Family Allowance etc, applications are taking 3-4 months to process and are often delayed for some time while cross-checks are carried out with the Department of Justice.

The Equal Status Act, 2000 which prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, in the provision of goods and services, accommodation, education and access to clubs, bars and restaurants has not yet been implemented. It was due to enter into force in October, but has been delayed yet again. Many organisations, including FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) have argued that the system of 'direct provision' (£15 per week and board and lodging in hotels /hostels etc) could be challenged under the Act. The Equality Authority has also said that it will challenge the system of direct provision once the Equal Status Act comes into force.

On a slightly more positive note, the NASC legal group has organised a number of activities this year. In March, Catherine Kenny, the former legal officer of the Irish Refugee Council, gave a training seminar on the Asylum Process in Ireland. In May, Louis Gentile, Legal Officer with the UNHCR, gave a one-day training session on Refugee Law. And in June, Bernie O'Donoghue and Brian Kearney from the Dept of Social, Community and Family Affairs gave an information session on welfare rights of asylum-seekers and refugees.

Introduction

I would like to begin by thanking AVONDHU Development Group for organising this important seminar and inviting me to share the experience of NASC on the policy context of issues relating to interculturalism. As you will appreciate the policy context is quite complicated yet also has quite a short history, especially in relation to immigration. I, on the other hand have quite a short time and need to make the policy context uncomplicated !

I know it is hard to get around some of the new terminology like "interculturalism". This is a fairly new term used to describe community interaction between members of different ethnic groups, including the majority ethnic group. Formerly the term "multicultural" was used, but this did not express the important interactive element of different communities living together.

I do not propose to map the history of immigration policies but I wish to outline three areas which I believe can positively or negatively affect interculturalism; technically these areas are called anti-racism; welfare policies and immigration policy. I think they can be more easily understood as issues of misinformation, rumours and human rights.

NASC the Irish Immigrant Support Centre

NASC is now one year old and was set up by an amalgam of concerned individuals, voluntary and community organisations and religious in Cork ('nasc' is the Irish word for link). NASC was established to provide services, create a social space and make links between new immigrants and established communities in Cork. NASC provides a drop-in service, legal information, English classes and computer classes, social welfare advice and referral services to asylum-seekers, refugees and immigrants in Cork. We also represent and mediate on behalf of individuals, or collective concerns, particularly in relation to direct provision.

Since the creation of NASC the number of asylum-seekers resident in Cork and Co. Cork has grown from less than 200 people to over 1000 people. This trend has been shared across the country. However these numbers underestimate the number of people who have arrived to Cork as there is quite a high transience in the asylum process. Therefore it is very important to note that the amount of available accommodation does not equate with the greater number of people who have been placed in Cork and who have used the services of NASC. Naturally a large group of people who access information from the centre are actually Irish groups and organisations wishing to inform themselves, work with, and meet, members of the immigrant community.

Responding to Racism and Misinformation

The biggest challenge to creating an intercultural society is racism: racism in the institutions, racism on the street, and our own personal racism. Indeed I often wonder whether the level of interest in immigrant organisations versus the legacy of antipathy to traveller led initiatives is part of our own racism.

The response to racism in Ireland has come from three sources; from the victims of racism; from voluntary organizations who have mobilised against racism and from measures through the European Union. Only very recently did the Government eventually launch an anti-racism campaign, and it has done so by offering tiny amounts of money to some of the afore mentioned groups. It has not offered or shown an understanding of racism at institutional level or policy level.

The recent controversy over the Amnesty International campaign and the announcement of the Government anti-racism campaign presents a good opportunity to look at the needs. We need to ask ourselves is an anti-racism campaign about accusing people of racism or about building good relations within society. Possibly it's both ! The amnesty campaign recognises institutional racism, but I fear polarises people who are unsure of the issues. On the other hand the Government campaign offers paltry sums of money for superficial campaigns at local level.

Pro-immigrant organisations can work with local partners, including local Government, to build city or county wide anti-racism initiatives. There is a need for a firm Amnesty style response to racism, but on the other hand NASC talking about racism is like speaking to the converted. I believe our organisations can influence local Government to build sturdy campaigns, which influence more people than 'the converted'. However, to create the interaction necessary to call our society inter-cultural we also need to be aware of the day-to-day reality of people living in the community.

It is well established that racism is influenced by ignorance, which leads to fear, and fear to discrimination. Unfettered misconceptions bandied about by the media, issued in authority by politicians and not held in check by Government Departments will lead to tensions between the immigrant community and the "Irish" community. Indeed the present welfare system, known as direct provision have halted and discouraged positive interaction between the immigrant community and the established community. This is the importance of overcoming misinformation.

Some Day to Day Welfare Issues - Dispelling the Rumours

Like Community Welfare Officers (CWO), who are in direct contact with asylum-seekers on a daily basis, NASC experiences many of the day-to-day issues faced by asylum-seekers. A lot of tensions have built up between asylum-seekers and CWO's because of a lack of understanding between them. The role of the CWO, indeed the welfare state, is not explained to asylum-seekers and, on the other hand CWO's lack support and information. All the problems are landed at their feet and it is often not in their power to do anything about them. NASC has strongly argued that the policy of dispersal is not necessarily a bad thing; but without dispersing the services, and the responsibility, the Department of Justice has abdicated its responsibility to individual, and untrained hotel managers, Gardai and Community Welfare Officers. However I believe some of these problems could be overcome rather easily, while yes others need more urgent attention.

A common misconception of asylum-seekers is the belief that Arthur Guinness is president of Ireland (his stamp is on all the official paper), we have done nothing to educate asylum-seekers about our own political culture. Many hear the discussion about the "right to work", but think they have heard a fact. As you should be aware, in the present welfare system, asylum-seekers receive £15.00 per week while living in former hostels and hotels. They are not allowed work, nor receive education (unless they are under 18). Of-course I have heard every possible derivation of that £15.00; £15 per hour, £15 per day; £150 per week; even £1500 per month ! And of course the hotels are presumed to be holiday camps. They are not. At any rate the effect on people living in the system has been the creation of a rumour mill inside and outside of the system.

The hotels are overcrowded and depressing places. Can you imagine sharing a room with four strangers for a year, or not being allowed receive visitors, nor being allowed cook your own food ? It does sound remarkably close to a prison, and our fear is that Irish society will tolerate the incarceration of asylum-seekers while they await decisions on their asylum application.

It is my belief that the indignity of direct provision is not particularly aimed at the present immigrant population, rather it is aimed at those outside of Ireland telling them not to come here. A principle that bears a striking resemblance to the system known as 'lesser eligibility' that applied to the workhouses in famine Ireland. Lesser eligibility implied conditions inside the workhouse should be suitably undesirable so that only the most desperate will try to get in. This is where we come to discuss human rights and immigration policy.

Immigration Policy

The right to seek asylum is a human right. In the modern European context this right was enshrined after World War lI, and came to include the whole world after 1967. In Ireland up to 1996 we however were working on an agreement that was no longer that two pages in length. Ireland operated its refugee policy on an ad-hoc agreement with the United Nations High Commission for refugees. Of-course it was only in the period since 1996 that the number of asylum-seekers who came to Ireland increased rapidly from a very small base.

I am glad to report that asylum policy is now on a legal footing since the eventual enactment of the 1996 Refugee Act in the year 2000. Indeed in some aspects it is quite progressive, at least on paper. It has widened the grounds for which an asylum-seeker can seek refugee status, and has a complicated, but very necessary appeals procedure. Indeed this is presently a problem rather than a cure.

The problem with asylum policy in Ireland is in its administration. It is taking an inordinately long time for people to receive decisions. People are waiting for over a year, even three years, for decisions to be made. There is presently a backlog of 13,000 people in the system, and there is no sign of any change (the Government keeps promising that the system will take six months - that's like me promising I'll have this paper finished on time !). The problem here is not only the increase in the number of asylum applicants but also the inefficiency in which successive Governments, and civil servants, addressed issues of asylum. Organisations like NASC have advocated an amnesty, or regularization, of those presently stuck in the system. The Government seems quite happy to let people wait, and take their own chances. This forces people into the illegal work market, possibly crime or even to leave the country altogether.

Of-course asylum policy is not the only immigration policy. Businesses and chambers of commerce have called for more workers. Our work visa system is archaic and has allowed for abuses of workers. Lower wages, greater hours and poor accommodation have already been reported. In our system the employer holds the work permit, basically ensuring his/her power and reducing the mobility of the worker. It was not long ago that this was the lot of the Irish emigrant.

I don't think Irish society has realised the similarity between it's own emigrants and present immigrants. Indeed some people have described this collective amnesia as an issue of 'unfinished business', as we have not come to terms with our emigrant past. Whatever the reason, the discrimination of both immigrant workers and asylum-seekers and refugees is being underpinned by bad planning and discriminatory policies, indeed some call it racism.

A plan to influence interaction and interculturalism

Proposed Themes, Indicative Actions

• Education and Information
  co-ordination of training on cultural awareness with target groups.
• Employment of outreach workers with mediation and training skills
• Multilingual City orientation pack
• Interaction and Integration
  the establishment of a "Newcomers Club" which would facilitate face-to-face contact and promote family visits.
• Proactive Policy Making
  informing Institutions, Agencies, Businesses, Leadership on best practice in incorporating anti-racist practice. This would include policy development, implementation & review.
• City-wide public awareness
  the promotion and realisation of the campaign concept, Cork - One City, Many Communities.

Introduction

I would like to begin by thanking TOSACH for organising this important seminar and inviting me to share the experience of NASC in organising a pro-immigrant organisation. This will include the difficulties, challenges and rewards for members, volunteers and staff. The paper will also outline what I believe are the three main dangers to the development of pro-refugee organisations, namely; racism, charity and uncritical service provision. To conclude I wish to discuss the importance of policy analysis and the uneasy relationship between pro-immigrant organisations and statutory agencies.

NASC is now one year old and was set up by an amalgam of concerned individuals, voluntary and community organisations and religious in Cork (nasc is the Irish word for link). Unlike a number of its predecessors, which were set-up solely in response to racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, NASC was established to provide services, create a social space and make links between new immigrants and established communities in Cork. While the collective began meeting in December 1999, it took five months of intensive work to actually find a premises, which have been given to us by the Sisters of Mercy. Now we provide a drop-in service, legal information, English classes and computer classes, social welfare advice and referral services to asylum-seekers, refugees and immigrants in Cork. We also have been given the opportunity to represent and mediate on behalf of individuals, or collective concerns, particularly in relation to direct provision.

Since the creation of NASC the number of asylum-seekers resident in Cork and Co. Cork has grown from less than 200 people to over 1000 people. This trend has been shared across the country. However these numbers underestimate the number of people who have arrived in Cork as there is quite a high transience in the asylum process. Therefore it is very important to note that the amount of available accommodation does not equate with the greater number of people who have been placed in Cork and who have used the services of NASC.

Funding and Accommodation of NASC

Since June 2000 NASC has had the use of offices generously provided by the Sisters of Mercy. This support was augmented by start-up funding from the Sisters of Mercy, and other religious congregations.

Funding and accommodation, while usually the greatest difficulties facing the voluntary and community sector are not the greatest problems facing NASC. Since its inception NASC has benefited from a ground swell of support, which so often is not represented or discussed at national level. Our buildings and finances have come mainly from the churches (using as broad a term as possible), and I do believe that similar support can be found right around the country.

Since the establishment of NASC we have been able to secure further funding from other non-governmental sources, and we have approached State agencies for long-term funding in the future. The difficulty facing pro-immigrant organisations has been the refusal and confusion of Government Departments to fund our projects. There is a great need for the Government to recognise the need for a community wide response to immigration issues. So far it appears that the temptation has been to label asylum projects as single issue agencies, and therefore limit funding opportunities, and by fault or by design to limit the capacity of asylum-seekers to interact, let alone integrate with the host community.

Volunteers and Staff in NASC

Despite the widespread fears of a decline in the voluntary sector due to a lack of volunteers and over professionalisation of the sector, our experience has been that any calls we have made through the media for volunteers have been responded to with great energy and commitment. We see the immigrant community and our volunteers as being the core members of NASC, and despite the great barriers to the participation of immigrants in the organisation, without their involvement NASC would have no credibility with it's very own target group.

NASC hopes to be an immigrant led organisation. Presently our steering committee is made up of 50% immigrants / 50% host community, and despite some disbelief this model is actually working. There is most definitely parity of esteem on the problematic issues such as attendance and punctuality, but for asylum-seekers the difficulties of finance, travel, unfamiliarity with Irish systems, English language and accents must be taken into account. On the other hand the host community members must take into account that there are different cultural and management systems, and also take into account the fact that information in the immigrant community is usually by word of mouth rather than e-mail. This means it's important to keep an ear to the ground, and also means there is a balance to be reached between rumour and fact.

Trust and credibility are the key factors in building pro-immigrant organisations. Organisations have to be able to face the fact that most asylum-seekers will question their motivation and the organisations must respond by recognising why asylum-seekers feel that way. Our voluntary sector is quite unusual in Western terms, so it's not unusual for people to presume I am a spy working with the Government. Vitally it is very important that organisations such as NASC tell the truth, despite how depressing that may be, and if you can't do something, no matter how much you would like to, say you can't.

It is our genuine hope that members of the immigrant community will be allowed work in general, but hopefully in NASC too ! Of course there is a place for host community workers, but preferably immigrants will be in a position to represent themselves and build their own organisations. At present in Cork it has not yet been possible to achieve this. The majority of asylum-seekers are not in a position to become involved. In Dublin there are now approximately 20 representative organisations, in Cork there is none. In Cork there are officially 12 asylum-seekers who were given the right to work. Direct provision is sapping the energy of the people, leaving them vulnerable, depressed and demotivated. In Cork most people wish to move to Dublin, the attraction of the big city is as desirable to asylum-seekers as it has been for Irish migrants. I am sure asylum-seekers in Dublin face the same issues too.

The Three Challenges To Pro-Immigrant Organisations

I believe the three greatest challenges to the development of pro-immigrant organisations are racism, charity and uncritical service provision.

RACISM is rife. It exists at the personal level, the street level and the institutional level. It has existed and been accepted in Ireland for a very long time. Traveller organisations and pro-immigrant organisations face the same threats and fight the same fight. Indeed I often wonder whether the level of interest in immigrant organisations versus the legacy of antipathy to traveller led initiatives is part of our own racism.

It is of-course difficult to classify racism, it leads to ambiguity and false accusations, and fears of been labelled. Indirectly I would like to hold up a mirror to the present situation. The controversy over the Amnesty campaign and the announcement of the Dept. of Justice anti-racism campaign presents a good opportunity to look at the needs. We need to ask ourselves is an anti-racism campaign about accusing people of racism or about building good relations within society. Possibly it's both ! The amnesty campaign recognises institutional racism, but I fear polarises people who are unsure of the issues. On the other hand the Dept. of Justice campaign offers paltry sums of money for superficial campaigns at local level.

Pro-immigrant organisations can work with local partners, including local Government, to build city or county wide anti-racism organisations. There is a need for a firm Amnesty style response to racism, but on the other hand NASC talking about racism is like speaking to the converted. I believe our organisations can influence local Government to build sturdy campaigns which influence more people than 'the converted'.

Charity

The history of voluntary organisations in Ireland is tied in with charity. Pro-immigrant organisations, their members, their volunteers and their staff need to recognise that immigrants don't need our "help" but need our solidarity. We need to allow people express themselves, we need to learn; new languages, new cultures, new organisations. I fear the individualisation of asylum-seekers needs. Direct provision and the absence of the right to work prevent interaction, demotivate people, cause depression. The answer to that is not pity, it is policy change.

Service provision without policy analysis

The service needs of asylum-seekers is as big as the gaps in service provision. NASC has strongly argued that while dispersal is not necessarily a bad thing, but without dispersing the services, and the responsibility, the Dept. of Justice has abdicated it's responsibility to individual, and untrained hotel managers, Gardai and Community Welfare Officers. As usual voluntary and community organisations have stepped into the breach.

And this is where we find ourselves already; overwhelmed and overworked. Service provision with its huge workload has prevented organisations taking the time to say "what's going on here". Unwittingly we are becoming part of a system we inherently disagree with. It is vital that we take the time off to relax; it is vital that we take the time to reflect, and it is vital that we take the time to criticise, analyse and be part of change.

Policy Analysis and Dealing with State Agencies

The importance of policy analysis cannot be underestimated. People on the ground are seeing the effects of the system on the people. The reality of the meagre existence of asylum-seekers in Ireland must be challenged, and the reality of the experience, good and bad, must be fed back to policy makers. Policy makers are not as distant as they seem, they include other voluntary organisations, religious groups, members of social partnership, naturally political parties and of course Government. Between us we have the ear of those groups. On the ground we are the experts.

State agencies have been touring around the country telling people they have been on a "massive learning curve" for the last year. They are not experts, indeed they seem to be still on the same curve. There is a very uneasy relationship between pro-immigrant groups and the State agencies responsible for asylum-seekers and immigration; nor is this going to be resolved easily. It is vital that we challenge these organisations. It might put our organisations in difficulty, but we must ask are we working with the people or for our organisations. The sheer inequality of the present system is overwhelming, we know this, "its the stuff of tribunals" and we, with our knowledge, the support we have, and the resources we have, can challenge the present system.