Immigrant detention already in place, say Jesuits

TÁNAISTE Michael McDowell’s controversial proposals on immigration this weekend disguise the fact that he already presides over an established detention policy, a leading refugee welfare organisation has said.

In recent years thousands of asylum seekers have been housed for up to 50 days each in detention facilities at Cloverhill prison and Dóchas House in Mountjoy.

The director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice Fr Tony O’Riordan said the current system was inappropriate.

“What we are saying is that these detention centres are nothing new. There are already people being detained under immigration laws.”

He said Mr McDowell’s proposals may even improve conditions for asylum seekers and take them out of the country’s prisons.

“In some ways this could be an improvement because it would keep families together as at the moment women go to one centre and men are brought to another.

“However, that will all depend on what category of asylum seekers he is planning to house in these detention centres.”

On Saturday Mr McDowell’s proposals were attacked by the Green Party, who said he was picking on the vulnerable, and the Labour Party this weekend who said they were too draconian.

However, the Jesuit community said this practice is standard procedure within immigration policy.

Between 2003 and 2005 more than 3,500 people were detained in Cloverhill and Dóchas House.

A further 4,000 a year are denied entry to the state and immediately returned to their home countries.

Fr O’Riordan said the Tánaiste will have to clearly define who is eligible for the proposed new centres.

“If he is referring to the people who have been sent back straight away then you have to question why are these detention centres necessary.

“And if it is for people awaiting deportation or having the asylum status reviewed then this would have to be transparent and we would still have to ask are these the most appropriate measures.”

Peter O’Mahony of the Irish Refugee Council said the state did not need any more repressive immigration policies.

He said suggestions of detaining people without cause would be a unnecessarily hard line approach.

The Tánaiste made his comments on detention centres while discussing his vision for integrating non-nationals through a series of citizenship reforms.

These include foreign-nationals showing they can speak English and have a basic understanding of Irish nationhood.

“We have a liberal citizenship law but granting citizenship to someone who has little or no understanding of the Irish nation or state and little or no capacity linguistically to participate in the day to day democratic life of the community is questionable.”

Elsewhere this weekend the Tánaiste was addressing a memorial ceremony for the survivors of the Holocaust to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Speaking at the event in Dublin’s Mansion House holocaust survivor Zoltan Zinn-Collins said the full horror of the Nazi labour camps was being lost on young Irish people.

“I urge you to take a moment to remember all the victims of the holocaust — six million Jews and the over five million other victims, murdered because of their beliefs, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation or political affiliation. May Ireland never forget.”