Asylum Seeking In Ireland

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Friday September 03, 2004 18:28 by Caoimhe K - Residents Against Racism (personal capacity)

Immigration is a relatively new experience for Ireland with 1997 being the year which marked the start of large numbers of people (generally 10,000 a year) coming to Ireland seeking asylum. Ireland has a demographic problem, in that it has an ageing population and needs this immigration to sustain economic growth and labour supply.

The 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol provide the foundation of international refugee law. Article 1 defines a refugee as any person who: “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail of the protection of that country.” An asylum seeker is “a person seeking to be recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Convention” (NCCRI et.al.).

While an asylum seeker is waiting to have their application processed, they live under a system called Direct Provision. Under Direct Provision an asylum seeker is given a bed and three meals a day in an accommodation centre and €19.10 per week to live on. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work under the system of Direct Provision and are forced to live in poverty. The accommodation centres used to house asylum seekers are often completely inadequate to the needs of asylum seekers. This communal accommodation was originally meant to be of a short-term nature (up to six months) when it was first introduced by the government in April 2000 but this has not always been the case. Some asylum seekers “have been accommodated in such centres for more than 18 months” (Irish Refugee Council, 2002: Note 1). Some share rooms with up to five other people. This is completely unacceptable in a lot of cases, particularly where women and children are involved.

The food is generally prepared by staff in the accommodation centres. The food provided is often “inadequate and unsuitable for the needs of parents and those of their children” (Fanning et.al., 2001:2). Pregnant women have been found to be malnourished and in some cases the lack of an adequate diet has resulted in women having difficulties in breastfeeding. (Fanning et.al., 2001:2). Some of these accommodations centres are not even satisfying the most basic needs of the asylum seekers living within them.

Being in these accommodation centres for a long period of time often leads to frustration and tension. “The lack of any meaningful activity for asylum seekers exacerbates stress levels, often leading to higher levels of frustration and aggression, including mental illness” (Irish Refugee Council, 2002: Note 1). Direct provision is not guaranteeing the satisfaction of asylum seekers’ basic human needs and prevents them from satisfying their social needs due to the fact that they haven’t got enough money to participate in mainstream Irish society. It makes it difficult for them to forge links and to build social networks with others in their surrounding communities and leads to social exclusion.

The Right to Work

Asylum seekers are refused the right to work by the State. Due to the massive backlog in processing applications for asylum by the Irish State, it can take years for an asylum seeker to have their application processed. This means that even if an asylum seeker gets refugee status, the chances are that they have been long-term unemployed by the time that they are allowed to seek employment.

Article 6 of The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the UN in 1996 obliges parties to: “recognise the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right”. As a participating state, Ireland “is expected to progressively guarantee economic rights for both nationals and non-nationals within their territories” (Begley et. Al., 1999:34). By refusing to let asylum seekers to obtain employment Ireland is directly breaching this Covenant.

Prohibition of work entitlements has a serious effect on a person’s mental well-being. It “denies access to a primary pathway for psychological integration” (Begley et. Al., 1999:24), (Faughnan and Woods, 2000:44). The social isolation, stress and anxiety that many asylum seekers experience “is compounded by their limited access to education, training, and employment” while waiting for their application to be processed (Irish Refugee Council, 2002: Note 2). In studies undertaken on the health of asylum seekers it was found that “for some, health was seen as closely intertwined with access to income” (Faughnan and Woods, 2000:59).

It should also be noted that asylum seekers are denied the right to free third-level education. They must pay non-EU fees (€10,000-€23,000 a year for a degree course) if they wish to attend College/ University. Obviously, this makes access to third-level education an impossibility for the vast majority of asylum seekers. By prohibiting asylum seekers from working and free third-level education the government is denying asylum seekers many of their social and psychological needs.

Interviewers, Medical Personel and Translators

It is crucial that asylum seekers are given interviewers, translators and medical personnel who are of the same sex as the asylum seeker. This is of particular importance for female asylum seekers. A female asylum seeker may be unable to tell a male interviewer the full details of her case due to cultural differences, particularly if her case deals with sexual abuse, Female Genital Mutilation or other women specific issues. This can lead to extreme difficulties in her application, with a strong chance of her application for asylum being turned down. Also, there is a grave problem in Ireland with the level of training that some of the interviewers are being given. These interviewers need to be highly trained as they are dealing with extremely sensitive issues and often traumatised people.

Due to cultural differences in regard to attitudes to health and personal privacy it is essential that female medical personnel are available to treat female asylum seekers, and male medical personnel are available to treat male asylum seekers. According to the Irish Refugee Council it is not always culturally acceptable for female asylum seekers to visit a male doctor or social worker (2002: Note 2) and vice versa. In the absence of a female doctor, a female asylum seeker will often choose not to receive care, with the consequence of their health suffering. This is equally true for male asylum seekers from certain origins and cultural backgrounds.

There is a definite need for more same-sex interpreters to be available . The Irish Refugee Council identifies language as “the primary barrier that affects medical consultation and treatment, with few trained translators and interpretive services available” (2002: Note 2). The lack of trained translators, particularly female translators, creates numerous problems. Firstly, many asylum seekers need a translator of the same sex as their own as they can’t discuss their case/health with members of the opposite sex, particularly those who have suffered some form of abuse. Secondly, the use of spouses or children as translators, particularly by doctors raises issues of confidentiality and also can expose the translator to psychologically damaging information. Thirdly within accommodation centres, without proper translation facilities, “the needs of many communities cannot be determined and addressed, be they dietary, cultural or religious concerns” (Fanning et.al., 2001:2).

The asylum process in Ireland is inhumane and needs to be radically changed. The Irish Government needs to completely change its attitude to asylum seekers in Ireland. There is constant reference to the expression “the floodgates” by our government. They assert that they must prevent the floodgates from being opened and therefore bring in more and more restrictive, oppressive and inhumane immigration measures. However, these floodgates are imaginary, they do not exist. Our government seems to forget that Ireland needs immigration. Our government lets untrue, vicious and racist rumours run through Ireland ( eg: asylum seekers are scroungers and just here to abuse the system) and never stands up and admits that these are not true. Our government has allowed Ireland to turn into a racist society and has openly encouraged it by rushing referendums through without even allowing the Irish public to know the complex truth about the immigration systems in Ireland, and without ever producing statistics showing exactly how many women it will effect, by using terms such as “the floodgates.” Our government needs to wake up and realise that asylum seekers are human beings. As human beings they are entitled to have their human rights respected and their needs fulfilled. They are entitled to be treated with dignity and compassion. The government needs to accept that these are people that have fled often horrific situations, and that have often had to leave everyone that they love behind. Most importantly, the Irish people themselves have to start standing up and taking responsibility for the government that they put into power. The Irish people need to start showing that they will not accept the treatment that some of the most vunerable people in the world are recieving here. Asylum seekers have no voice or power in this country. We do. Its time to show our dissent.


Residents Against Racism (http://www.struggle.ws/rar.html) is a group that meets every Thursday in the Teachers Club on Parnell Square West at eight o’ clock. These are open meetings that anybody interested in getting involved in the campaign is welcome to attend.
www.antiracismireland.org


References:
Begley, M. G., Condon, M., Garavan, K. C., Holland, K,. Kelly, I., Staines, A. (1999) Asylum in Ireland: A Public Health Perspective, Department of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, UCD.
Fanning, B., O’Connor, D., Veale, A. (2001) Beyond the Pale: Asylum-seeking children and Social Exclusion in Ireland, On behalf of the Irish Refugee Council.
Faughnan,P., Woods, M. (2000) Lives on Hold, Seeking Asylum in Ireland, Social Science Research Centre, Dublin.
Irish Refugee Council, Fact Sheet on Asylum Seekers and Accommodation Centres, Social Policy Information Note 1, (2002), [online], ‘www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie’, [accessed on 14 Nov 2003]
Irish Refugee Council, Fact Sheet on Health Care For Asylum Seekers, Social Policy Information Note 2, (2002), [online], ‘www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie’, [accessed on 14 Nov 2003].
National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Know Racism. (nd) Myths and Misinformation about Asylum Seekers, [leaflet]