NASCNEWS

Vol.1 Issue 3: Summer 2004

Alot has happened in Nasc since the Spring. The AGM was held in April, and a new Steering Committee was elected (details inside); work has also started on the strategic plan. Then there was the expansion of the EU on May 1st, and the contentious Citizenship Referendum. It passed, in spite of a vigorous 'No' campaign in the Cork area organised by Nasc. The following exerpts from Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian newspaper (Monday, June 21, 2004) give some opinions on the outcomes of the Referendum.

" Opposition parties say it was a hurried and confused campaign, and one exit poll showed that a substantial number voted not solely on citizenship but because they felt "anti-immigrant". Like Ireland's other historic referendums - on abortion, divorce and the Nice treaty - the opposed camps have been locked in a mini-civil war. Everyone expected a Yes vote, but the overwhelming size of the vote was a shock to many.
"Has Ireland lost its soul? Have we thrown out the best of the old for the worst of the new?" asked the Catholic archbishop Sean Brady in the week before the referendum. Now liberal commentators have joined him in a rush of moral angst.
Immigrants are a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland, arriving with the economic boom of the 90s. Ireland is now a rich place with a small population and it depends on migrant workers - principally in the health service. But it still has relatively few asylum seekers. Last year it had fewer than Slovakia or the Czech Republic. But most are dispersed from Dublin and sent to small rural towns that refugee workers say can be ill-prepared for social change. The Irish Refugee Council said that, given the lack of a full debate on immigration, the public is confused about asylum seekers and has not been kept informed by the government.

Ireland's one anti-immigrant candidate in the European elections got only 2% of the vote in his eastern constituency.
"Out on the street campaigning for a No vote, I was aware of the high level of xenophobia and racism," said Aisling Reidy, from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties… We have moved from an inclusive debating society to a very much more rightwing country."
The Labour Party, along with doctors, human rights activists, Sinn Féin and even a former US congressman argued that the referendum was launched with no time for a proper debate.

The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism is examining statistics from refugee groups which say racist incidents have risen since the referendum was announced. Some groups speak of name-calling, with pregnant black women told: "That baby business is over." The role of the media is also under scrutiny but the British tabloids which have a vast presence in Ireland have not been singled out.

Jean-Pierre Eyanga, from Integrating Ireland, an umbrella group of refugee organisations, said the Irish were trustworthy people who made excellent friends, but the referendum had asked them the wrong question and they had been misinformed. The rumoured "flood" into hospitals of mothers from developing countries had not turned out to be totally accurate. The debate has now turned to allegations of a collective amnesia about Ireland's emigrant past and diaspora.

Ambrose Blake, 66, who left working-class Dublin at 16 and worked as a plumber on Birmingham's water system for 27 years, said: "We worked hard in England but we were still abused. There would be 'no Irish' signs up, we were called Paddies, navvies. We kept our heads down, we accepted it, that's the nature of Irish people. Maybe because the Irish had to fight so hard for what they have now, the thought of other people coming in here makes them feel resentful."
The Irish Times columnist John Waters said the Irish could be presumed guilty of xenophobia until they proved themselves innocent. "This country got rich quick and the people were never told they might have to pay back their dues," he told the Guardian. "The leadership has abdicated responsibility. This vote will create a two-tier idea of belonging in Ireland."

OPINION

'Immigration to Ireland
- Learning from America's Experience'

Extracts of a paper given by Bruce Morrison, at the Immigrant Council of Ireland Conference: 'Immigration, Ireland's Future', 11th December 2003, in Dublin.

I appreciate the reference to my work on Morrison visas. The history of that legislation was a most powerful lesson in participating in something as a legislator that changed people's lives and gave them power over their own future.

Being a destination country is an honour. You do not get to be a destination country until certain things are true about your society - prosperity, a general sense of openness and confidence, respect for democracy and human rights. These traits make it worth trying to get into such a country. I used to say during the Cold War that there were two kinds of societies in the world: the ones you needed a visa to get into and the ones you needed a visa to get out of. So when Ireland joined the list of destination countries, it graduated from problems of the past to problems of the future. But those problems of the future are problems of success.

The Need for Policy

The scale of immigration to Ireland is thought to be small because the total numbers of immigrants each year is only in the tens of thousands. But this is deceptive. Ireland's current rate of immigration per capita is double that of the United States. But in per capita terms, Canada takes twice as many - a rate that Ireland has already reached. You just cannot ignore having become, per capita, one of the top immigrant destinations in the world. The fact that the numbers may seem small in absolute terms really does not matter. In order to be successful with immigration and immigrants, the government must have comprehensive and thoughtful policies. This is a key government role. No one else can play it. It cannot be left to the voluntary sector. It cannot be left for businesses to decide.
What we have learned in the US, is that what scares people about immigration is the sense that the people in charge are not in charge. On something that is as deeply felt about a society as who can join and what that means for the future, feeling a lack of control is just plain scary to people. Change is always scary to all of us. But when people feel that change is coming and no one is trying to understand it, manage it and make it productive for everyone, you are likely to get vicious and angry reactions that come from fear. Fear of change, fear of difference, fear of the "other"- these are the big threats to a successful approach to immigration and immigrants.
In the United States today we have ten to twelve million people living and working in the country who are illegally present. We have that situation because we have avoided decisions on preventing illegal employment and adequate legal admissions for employment. And not having dealt with these issues, we now have this huge underclass of people who are exploited and driving down working conditions for legal employees.…In 1986, we enacted a huge amnesty to allow illegal immigrants to legalise and to prevent future problems of illegal employment. But we failed to institute effective policies and here we are, 15 years later back in the same mess considering a new amnesty. But, if you have amnesties every few years you can be sure that people will break the rules because they know that sooner or later they will get relief.

So it is not unusual that Ireland is slipping toward the same mistake of ineffective or non-existent policy. But it is a mistake to be avoided or there will be a price in the future. Immigration policy encompasses many competing considerations about whom you are ultimately going to be able to welcome into a society. But welcome is the key. When the people are here, they have to be welcomed and their rights respected.

Immigration ought Not to be about Charity

The Irish got the opportunity to go to America, go to Australia, go to Britain, go to Canada and eventually enjoy success, that creates an obligation on the Irish to accept immigrants here. I find this a very dangerous way to think about immigration.
Immigration is good for countries. Immigrants bring new strength, new energy. I call immigrants "the self-selected strivers of the world." Most people stay where they are for all sorts of reasons - including people who live in awful places where none of us would ever choose to live. But others have the motivation, energy and ambition to try to do something to find a better future for themselves, their children and grandchildren. They move. And it is a very brave thing to do. It is a very entrepreneurial thing to do. It is taking enormous risks, investing your life for the future.
One of the reasons the United States has so much entrepreneurial vitality - and it really is one of the strengths of our country - is because we have been fed, decade after decade by this new energy of these brave people who just do not take no for an answer. Accepting people with this motivation is not about what it does for them. It is about what it adds to your country. It helps to build your own society and make it stronger and better.
When you take people on what I would call a "national interest basis," you respect them for what they are bringing. When you give charity you create victims. When you give people opportunity out of the goodness of your heart, you may not think you are expecting anything of them. But that is the problem. You expect gratitude and subservience, rather than the competitive energy of the ambitious. Ireland should not take immigrants because the Irish were immigrants. Ireland should have a progressive immigration policy because it will be a better country with immigrants than without. And when you decide how people are going to come, the same values should be reflected.

The Guest Worker Trap

I think it is a terrible mistake to routinely take immigrants as guest workers, which is the bulk of Irish immigration today. You call it labour migration. You can call it whatever you want, but it is taking people temporarily for permanent jobs… So much of the employment for which temporary permits are issued is for jobs that are permanent. "What about bad times?" you say. Sometimes the economy is growing and sometimes it is not, so there are no really permanent jobs. That is an abusive way to think about immigrants - to bring them in and then the first time there is a downturn in the economy, out you go. That is no way to treat people. That is no way to build strength in your economy.
My favourite way of describing the labour orientation toward immigration is the expression, "we wanted workers and we got people." People are very inconvenient. Beyond the eight hours that they work, they have sixteen other hours in every day… That is the way we often think about people, we often think of them as workers... The people who are coming have the ambition to stay permanently. And when the people who are coming and the policy under which they come are in conflict, there is going be a mess. They are not going to leave. They are going to be like the Turks in Germany, the guest workers. How many generations of guest workers do we have now in Germany who were brought for seven years but did not leave? But they did not become part of German society either.

So Ireland ought to get out of the guest worker trap. The demand for workers is a
product of government growth goals. These goals cannot be met without population growth that exceeds new Irish workers entering the labour force. This is the creation of a permanent employment need. So if you have a government policy that is built on the idea of increased labour being available, then that increased labour force ought to be admitted to the country on a rational basis, related to the economic needs of the country. But it should be for permanent residence, not as guest workers. Otherwise, you will create a two-tiered society of which the extreme is seen in places like Kuwait, where there is a class of idle rich and temporary workers from Palestine, India and the Philippines do the work. Permanent immigration fits with a rights-based immigrant policy. You know these people are not just passing through, they are joining your society permanently and they must become part of the Irish nation.

Rights of Families

When you think permanent residence, you think families. When you think of permanent
residence, you think of the spouses' right to work. What if there were a law saying, "only one worker in every family. If you're married only one of you can work. Make a choice. Do not get married or you will not be able to work." Ridiculous, nobody would ever do that. We do that all the time to immigrants, right? Well, it is because they are not immigrants, they are workers. These wives or husbands are like appendages they are not supposed to have. They get in the way of being workers. "We did not want that worker; we want this worker; you are married to the wrong worker." It is all funny is it not? But that is what we are doing, when we admit guest workers and then find ourselves debating who in the family can work. So where will it stop? If you think about these people as joining the society permanently, you will get these other things right because they follow logically. You will not get caught in the guest worker trap. And your immigrants will have rights because they will be treated as Irish.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees

One other thing I want to mention, although briefly, is the issue of asylum seekers and refugees. Mary Robinson said some very important things about the International Convention, the rules on who is a refugee and how narrow the definition is. These are challenging questions. If you really were to say that whoever in the world has such a rotten life that they ought to be able to get up and move to a place where things are really good like Ireland, there are four billion people on that list...I do not think that anybody thinks that we will make the world a better place if we take all of the economic and social achievements of the developed world and just parcel them out pro rata to the four billion. That development strategy is a loser. So the narrow scope for refugee protection may be a question almost without an answer. On the other hand, the convention on asylum and refugees is very arbitrary and the distinction between persecution and economic deprivation has no virtue beyond practicality. But it is what exists, it is international law and it is the standard. And you cannot run your immigration system pretending that there is a different standard, unless you want to change the standard. I would not particularly recommend it. I think it is too hard. Instead, you have to enforce the rules that are there. You should not use asylum as a backdoor way of doing immigration, because it gets you smuggling. Smugglers figure out what your Achilles heel is as a country, what you do not enforce, how you let people in against the rules. They then charge people huge amounts of money to get to such a place--like Ireland--to be paid back over a lifetime, enforced by a kind of criminal enterprise. And then you have got a real mess. So as with every other part of immigration, tough as it sounds, you have got to live by the rules. And if the rules are preventing people from immigrating who you think ought to be able to come to your country, then you ought to set up rules that allow them through the front door of immigration, not the back door of failed asylum claims. You also should not use asylum as the way of fulfilling your international obligation to help refugees. There are 20 million refugees in camps around the world, outside of their own countries, which UNHCR has designated as refugees under international law. Only a tiny trickle of these people ever gets to go anywhere in the world, whether back home or to be resettled. If Ireland wants to do its bit for the refugee community in the world, it ought to sign up to a quota of the most vulnerable and the most injured of refugees in the world under the UNHCR programme. It is not perfect, but it is a way to act collectively with the other developed countries of the world to do something about those problems. Seeing the asylum seeker process as a primary way to fulfil your obligation is a pretty poor way of doing it.

Bottom line: Ireland needs a policy about immigration and a policy about immigrants. It really does not have to look very far for a policy about immigrants. A policy about immigrants is one that says we treat immigrants the way we expect to be treated as citizens. And we help bridge the gap between where they are and where we are in terms of services, in terms of integration, in terms of education, in terms of becoming part of the community. Along the way we get the benefit of all the diversity that goes with those people. But not separate diversity, diversity as part of the whole. Not losing your identity, but adding your identity to the whole. As to immigration, it is not the same question. First, decide what you need as a nation to add to the skills and workforce you have. Sell the decision to the people of Ireland, based on the interests of the nation. Then be sure to enforce the rules that have been chosen, so what is seen on the streets reflects the law on the books. By that route, an informed and confident populace will not be nearly as xenophobic as they appear when they think the politicians have abdicated the duty to lead, inform, and enforce a democratic consensus.

Fairwell to Pierre.

Pierre Basantu, a native of the Congo has been an asylum seeker in Cork City for over a year. In that time Pierre committed himself wholeheartedly to Nasc and the Congolese Irish Partnership in particular, and he has served with distinction on both committees of those organisations, in building links with both immigrant and Irish communities. By his kindness and generosity to others Pierre is now a native of Cork. Sadly, Pierre has been ordered out of the hostel in North Quay Place and to better accommodation in Dublin. We wish him well in the future, and hope to seem him in Cork again soon - very soon. You will be missed, Pierre. Adieu for now.

Nigeria

By Mariam Olusoji,
Chairperson on Nasc's Steering Committee.

Nigeria is located in West Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea between Benin republic and the Cameroon. Nigeria also has as its neighbours Chad and Niger Republic.
Nigeria was a British colony and gained her independence on 1st October 1960 while Abuja is its capital city. It is the most populous Country in West Africa with a population that exceeds 140 million and having more than 250 ethnic groups. The largest groups which make up to 29% of the population are the Hausas and the Fulani, other large groups includes the Yoruba, Ibo (Igbo) and the Ijaws.
Religious practices include Islam, Christianity and indigenous beliefs. Nigeria has English as its official language while there are other dialects which include amongst others Yoruba, igbo, ijaw, hausa, Ibibio, anang, itsekiri. Ishan, edo etc,.
Democracy is the current political dispensation. Nigeria is abundantly blessed with mineral resources. The major source of Nigeria's resources is Crude Oil, which is the major source of its foreign earnings. There are a lot of tourist attractions in Nigeria (e.g. beaches, Plateau Springs, Zuma Rock, Olumo Rock, Obudu Cattle Ranch amongst others). Nigeria is also blessed with a rich culture, like traditional dances, food, festivals e.g. new yam festival.
Ordinary day-to-day life is quite simple. Nigerians wake up n the mornings, say their prayers and go to their different places of business and at the end of the day go back home to rest and prepare for the next days activities. Naturally Nigerians are capable of doing alot of things for themselves like, wood carving, farming, mat making, pot moulding, and cloth dyeing just to mention a few.
There are a lot of reasons why people leave the Country, these include war, (religious, tribal, etc), and human rights abuses. There are a lot of cases whereby people engage the services of death merchants who are paid a good sum of money to kill people who they see as threats. Prominent citizens are victims of this type of attack (e.g. the killing of a Minister of Justice of the Federation in cold blood is a case in point, and up to now the killers are still walking the streets as free citizens). The government cannot guarantee the life of its citizens in a situation where the police force is quite corrupt.
There are also issues like circumcision, and also areas where people are regarded as slaves and ostricized from the society. They are regarded as outcasts. There are also situations whereby the widow is forced to sleep alone in a room with the corpse of her dead husband and also to drink the water that have been used to bathe the corpse. In the northern part of the country where the vast majority of the people are Muslims, there are alot of human rights abuses, such as the stoning of women who are accused of adultery and also the amputation of limbs for stealing. Under-aged girls are forced to marry very old men triple the age of their fathers.
Nigerians are stigmatised as bad people and are therefore unpopular. Whenever we are in the midst of new friends and tell them we are Nigerians, their attitude changes automatically. Every lapse by a Nigerian is exaggerated and used to make all Nigerians look bad. A large number of Nigerians are in universities around the world, including Ireland and they are all law-abiding citizens. They are proud to be Nigerian and they frown on anyone who brings shame to their beloved country.
There is great potential in Nigeria. The economy may not be too good but the spiritual, the intellectual and many other things are in abundance. Nigeria is the most advanced black society in West Africa with cities to rival those in America for architectural style.
People are always looking at the bad sides of Nigeria. Why can't people name the Nobel prize winners, the soccer players and scientists? In most Countries you find Nigerians the top of their class. Nigerians are hard working people. The first multi-cultural Irish newspaper was brought to life by two Nigerian journalists. Again the first two black Lawyers to be called to the Irish Bar are Nigerians. Nigerians manage 90% of the African shops in Ireland. People need to get close to Nigerians to know that we are true human beings because we have big and kind hearts.

It is a fact that no one is perfect. There is no Country in the world that you will not find some bad eggs and Nigeria is no exception. There is no Country in the world where you will not find promising, law-abiding and honest Nigerians.
I will like to conclude by leaving a question for you to ponder on, 'How could anyone hate a whole Country because some of its people are bad?'
New Nasc Steering Committee

Nasc held its agm and vision day in Cork last April, and the following Steering Committee was elected: Mariam Olusoji (Co-chairperson), Angela Veale (Co-chairperson), Pierre Basantu (Treasurer), Noel Cosgrove (Secretary), Olga Golovnya, Robert Habimana (Staff liaison Officer), Aki Stavrou, Vitaliy Makhnanov (PRO) and Adeola Olatokunbo. Gertrude Cotter continues on the Committee as Coordinator.

The Nasc subgroups have been very busy, with the group behind the Referendum No Campaign being the most active, and involved with meeting with the Public, distributing leaflets and talking to the media.

Thanks to all who have given their time and energy to the No campaign

Some Facts & Figures

Refugee applications:
The number of applications for refugee status continues to fall dramatically. For the first five months of this year 2,036 people applied for refugee status, compared to 4,089 for the same period last year. The main nationalities of the applicants continue to be similar - being West African and East European.

Work Permits:
To date there have been a total of 15,224 work permits granted by the government this year. Of these, 1,092 permits were granted to employers in Cork City and County. And of these, 424 were new permits, and 648 were renewals (the remaining 20 belonging to group permits). The charts below begin to show the effect of the expansion of the EU on May 1st, though it is too early to draw conclusions. There is a clear decline in the number of new permits issued:
(Sources ORAC, and Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment)

Rent Allowance Entitlements for Immigrants since May 1 2004
By Fiona Hackett.

From 1 May 2004, you must be habitually resident in Ireland to quality for social assistance payments.
What this means in practice is that, in general, if you have been present in Ireland for 2 years or more,
work here and have a settled intention to remain in Ireland and make it your permanent home, you will
satisfy the habitual residence condition. This habitual residency rule applies to everyone, regardless of his or her nationality. The onus is on you to prove that you have been habitually resident in either Ireland or the rest of the Common Travel Area.

1. The position of the Health Board in relation to any application for Supplementary Welfare
Allowance/Rent Allowance from Asylum Seekers in Direct Provision who come from EU Accession States is as follows:

i. As and from the 27th May 2003, Rent
Supplement is not payable to a person who is not lawfully in the State
or

ii. Has made an application for Asylum under the Refugee Act 1996 and such application is awaiting
final decision by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
or
iii. Has made an application under the Aliens Act 1935 to remain in the State and such application is
not being determined. Before Rent Allowance can be paid, an Asylum Seeker in the first instance, would
have to withdraw his or her application from the Asylum process and provide documentary evidence to
that effect to the local Community Welfare Officer.

The question then arises as to what is the status of these persons after the date of withdrawal of their
application from the Asylum process. It would appear that such persons are not lawfully in the state and
should be referred to the Garda National Immigration Bureau or the local Garda Registration office, so that an application can be made under the Aliens Act 1935 to remain in the State. In accordance with Circular 02/03 from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, such applicants are not entitled to Rent
Allowance pending a determination of their application to remain in the State. There is however, no valid
reason why applications for Basic Payments and/or Exceptional Need Payments cannot be considered by the local Community Welfare Officer.

2. There is no change in respect of Asylum Seekers who are not in direct Provision. If they are
in receipt of full Supplementary Welfare Allowance they will continue to receive same. If they are in
receipt of reduced Supplementary Welfare Allowance, i.e., 19 per week, they will continue to be entitled
to these payments. With effect from 1st May 2004, the full provisions of Section 17 of the Social Welfare
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, come into effect.

All applications for Supplementary Welfare Allowance, regardless of nationality, are required to be habitually resident in the State in order to qualify for upplementary Welfare Allowance. If they are not habitually resident in the State, they will not be entitled to Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance and/or Supplements. However in certain circumstances, some persons in the State who are not habitually resident, may be entitled in exceptional circumstances to some Exceptional Need Payments and/or Urgent Need payments.

3. Those persons entering this State from any EU country looking for housing, will apply to Cork City
Council and/or Cork County Council in the first instance. If the Housing Authorities are unable to
house them, they will be referred in the same manner as the indigenous population to the various homeless accommodation centres in the functional area of the Health Board.

Further information available from www.threshold.ie
www.oasis.gov.ie.

'Do Me Justice'

Oh, here I am from Donegal. I feel quite discontented
To hear the way that we're run down, not fairly represented.
For they say it is a general rule, to make poor Pat a knave or fool,
But never mind, we'll play it cool and speak up for Old Ireland.

CHORUS: Do me justice, treat me fair and I won't be discontented.
Nor I won't be laughed at anywhere, but fairly represented.

There's Mister Punch with his literature; he tries to hurt us sadly.
Whene'er he draws our caricature, he depicts us rather badly.
With crooked limbs and villainous face he represents the Irish race.
I'm sure it is a great disgrace, we think so in old Ireland. CHORUS

When on the stage I do appear with a thundering great shillelagh,
With tattered hat and ragged coat, you think I'd step out gaily,
With not a word of common sense. They don't know when they give offence.
But carry on at Pat's expense-just let them come to Ireland. CHORUS

They say we're lazy and dirty got, but what's the use to grumble?
For when they enter our Irish cot, they're welcome, though it's humble.
In public works the country around, or where hard work is to be found,
In a railway tunnel underground, you'll find the boys from Ireland.
CHORUS

It's very true I like a glass. It makes my heart feel frisky.
And I'm very fond of an Irish lass and partial to the whiskey.
I'm very quiet when left alone. I do what I like with what's my own,
But woe betide the foes, Ochone, who dare run down old Ireland. CHORUS

Taken from a recording by Len Graham, who got it from Eddie Butcher. Nineteenth century (thanks to John Slattery)

Nasc Noticeboard

Who is Nasc??

Nasc (meaning 'link' in Irish) is a non-governmental organisation whose aim is to provide an information and support service to asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants in the Cork area - and on a partnership basis. Our services are provided by a team of volunteers and a full-time Coordinator.

Nasc is a drop-in centre that provides a welcoming atmosphere for both the immigrant and Irish communities.

Nasc provides general information clinics on immigrant rights and entitlements, as well as legal clinics. These services are free of charge. To make an appointment phone us at 021 4317411 or visit us at St Maries of the Isle Sharman Crawford Street, Cork. You are most welcome.

Centre opening hours are from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday (closed lunch-time 1.15 to 2.15pm and during bank holidays).

NascNews is a quarterly newsletter published by Nasc-The Irish Immigrant Support Centre.

We will consider any contributions to NascNews, the views expressed in it are not necessarily those of the Nasc Steering Committee.

Closing date for receipt of contributions for the Autumn NascNews is 30 September 2004.

Phone 021 - 4317411
Email nasccork@eircom.net