Asylum seeker: Bill is hypocritical

IT would be hypocritical for the Government to seek to detain people just because of their nationality after identifying with those annihilated by Nazi Germany, an asylum seeker claimed yesterday.

The asylum seeker made the charge during a press conference held in Dublin by refugee groups to discuss the Government’s new immigration bill.

The bill, if enacted, would make it easier for the Government to monitor and deport illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers.

There is concern, however, that the proposed legislation will allow the imprisonment of people seeking the protection of the State while their asylum application is being processed.

Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, insists that the measures are necessary to ensure the integrity of the immigration system, but refugee groups say it is neither fair nor transparent.

The Nigerian woman who spoke out has been living here for two-and-a-half years. She said she was afraid to give her name in case her views influenced the outcome of her application for asylum.

“I know that the minister attended last Sunday’s Holocaust memorial service and I think it is very sad that he would identify with the Jews and other people annihilated by a terrible regime and then seek to deny asylum seekers their basic human rights just because of their nationality,” she said.

The Irish Refugee Council has urged Mr Lenihan to make a number of fundamental changes to the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill to break the secrecy clouding the immigration system and ensure asylum seekers get a fair hearing.

The council’s chief executive, Robin Hanan, said they agreed with Mr Lenihan on the need to have a faster asylum process but the system needed to be fair as well as fast.

Mr Hanan said they were extremely worried that the Government proposed to increase powers of detention with people being locked up simply because of where they came from.

“On reading the bill carefully we were quite shocked to discover that this bill includes increased powers of detention,” he said.

“All of us are extremely concerned that someone coming to Ireland seeking the basic international right of protection from persecution could be in fear of being imprisoned and treated... as a criminal,” he said.

He said the asylum system was already clouded in secrecy and the new bill reinforced this secrecy and continued to put the entire process outside of the Freedom of Information Act.

“This must be changed so that everyone knows exactly how our asylum system operates,” he said.

The council said it was particularly worried about the position of children under the proposed legislation published this week.

“The bill talks about protection of victims of trafficking, but provides no system for protecting trafficked children,” he said.