Laws give no notice of eviction for illegal immigrants

GARDAÍ will have the power to evict without notice people living illegally in Ireland under proposed new laws.

The radical move is part of a big overhaul of the state’s immigration system, which the Government claims is being abused.

And in future plans, Justice Minister Brian Lenihan is considering introducing language, history and state loyalty requirements on people applying for citizenship.

Mr Lenihan said legislation he published yesterday would establish a transparent and efficient system, backed up with strong state powers to deport people here illegally.

The power of summary removal will end the system whereby the state must give a person 15 working days’ notice that they face deportation.

Mr Lenihan said this system meant it was “very easy” to avoid deportation, reflected in an 80% evasion rate.

The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 will give gardaí the power to arrest and detain people for eviction.

The minister defended the power of summary removal and said gardaí would “recognise and accommodate situations” in relation to dealing with children or persons with physical or mental disabilities.

He said there was a provision where deportees could be required to pay for the cost.

Mr Lenihan said the bill set up a system for dealing with visa applications, residence permission, deportation and the granting of protection to failed refugee applicants.

“You can’t have large numbers arriving here claiming asylum then having recourse to various administrative procedures on a protracted basis and then having recourse to judicial procedures on a protracted basis,” he said.

He said the bill contained a power whereby the High Court could award costs against solicitors taking “frivolous” judicial review proceedings.

The bill proposes to replace the refugee appeals tribunal with a protection review tribunal.

Mr Lenihan said this would be a transparent independent body that would provide a consistent approach.

The laws will also crack down on “marriages of convenience” between an Irish citizen and a foreigner.

The bill will grant suspected victims of trafficking a 45-day “recovery and reflection period” with the possibility of temporary residence permission.

Integrating Ireland director Aki Stavrou said: “While we welcome the adoption of a single procedure for people seeking protection, we are extremely concerned that the provisions fall far short of fulfilling Ireland’s obligations under international human rights law to ensure that a person does not face a risk of return to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

Fine Gael immigration spokesman Denis Naughten said it will be harder for Irish citizens to marry non-EU citizens andbring their spouses into the country.