Ireland set to take migrants coming to EU illegally

Ireland will likely opt-in to EU arrangements to take a specific number of migrants who come to Europe illegally, to help take the pressure off frontline states such as Italy.

The move would need Government and Oireachtas agreement as we have an opt-out from EU asylum rules.

But before the final decision is made, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said she wants to see the details that would include how many would be taken over a two-year period. “I believe this is an unprecedented human crisis and I believe the Irish people would want to respond but the details would have to be worked out,” she said on her way into a meeting with her EU colleagues in Luxembourg.

Under a system proposed by the European Commission Ireland would be asked to take around 270 people Syrians and Eritrean refugees who may be entitled to seek asylum but would have arrived illegally having crossed the Mediterranean.

However the method of calculating how many a country would take has not been agreed yet. It is based on a range of items including population and GDP - and if there was greater emphasis put on GDP for instance Ireland would be asked to take many more, having the second-highest GDP in the EU.

Ms Fitzgerald said she would prefer that the quota was not mandatory. However the commission has proposed that a total of 40,000 of the thousands of migrants who have arrived in Italy since mid-April should be redistributed.

They would be just those fleeing war in Syria or those escaping harsh conditions in Eritrea. They are considered refugees but would be assessed in Ireland as to whether they are entitled to asylum. This would be a change from the existing so-called Dublin rule saying they must be assessed in the first EU country they reach.

But some countries especially among the newer member states are objecting to the proposal that would make it mandatory for every country to take a specific number.

After weeks of no progress following a commitment from EU leaders following mass drownings in the Mediterranean earlier in the year, there were some positive signs from yesterday’s meeting but still no agreement.

Italy has said it may give the thousands that are being brought to their shores Shengen visas that would allow them travel to most of the other EU countries.

Ms Fitzgerald also indicated she will make changes to the direct provision arrangement under which Ireland keeps asylum seekers in accommodation with meals provided. A report is due in two weeks and the minister said that while there is pressure on housing and resource issues, the needs of the migrants had to be considered.