Government stalled over taking in more ‘boat people’
A total of 212 “boat people” had been brought to Ireland the previous year at the request of the United Nations but as the refugee crisis continued, host countries were under pressure to accept more.
Documents state repeatedly the difficulties associated with the project. “The Department of Defence have indicated that resettlement is going to be more difficult (and therefore more costly) than first thought,” is a statement that appears time and again.
“Apart from the language difficulty, they face the need to undergo extensive (basic) cultural, social and educational adaptation if they are to stand a reasonable chance of being successfully integrated into Irish society.”
It goes on: “Housing and help from voluntary bodies are not lacking but finding jobs for the refugees may prove difficult.
“In many cases, their previous work experience is of little or no value to them in Irish conditions or was in areas which have no counterpart in Ireland.”
The government was so concerned about having to take in more people that it turned down formal visa requests by three individual families. Handwritten notes indicate they weighed up the requests as follows: “For admitting them: a humanitarian act. Against: no funds or facilities for them.”
They were also worried what would happen if an Irish ship came across boat people in the open sea.
A note recording discussions with the Department of Tourism and Transport points out that Ireland had a limited fleet and Irish ships generally did not sail in the South China seas.
However it added: “They [Department of Tourism and Transport] say that if an Irish ship, flying the Irish flag, even if hired in another country, picked up refugees they would probably eventually end up in Ireland.”
The government even turned down a request by Cork nun Sr Xavier Casey who was working with families in refugee camps in Malaysia for diplomatic assistance to ensure her continued access to the camps.
Files show there was no shortage of goodwill among the public towards the refugees. A farmer in Co Wicklow offered a new centrally heated bungalow to a family where the husband would be able to work as chauffeur, butler and gardener and the wife would do domestic work.
Small firms offered vacancies for carpenters and for “girls — filling bottles etc”
The late Tony Ryan, founder of Guinness Peat Aviation, also got in touch with the subcommittee, offering the use of a property at Nenagh for a family that had experience working with livestock as he had a herd of pedigree cattle.
The offer notes that a Mr Denis Murphy, who represented Mr Ryan, spoke Chinese — a language of many of the refugees
The numbers of Vietnamese people in Ireland did eventually rise — to over 800 in recent years — but this was because of births and the arrival of relatives under family reunification programmes rather than through the admission of further groups of refugees.
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