Asylum amnesty urged after five years

A former High Court judge has called for an amnesty for asylum seekers stuck in the application process for five years or more, saying the gesture would honour the ideals of the 1916 rebels.

Judge Bryan McMahon made his comments as he criticised the government’s failure to act on the recommendations of a working group he chaired which aimed to improve the rights and conditions of people in the asylum and direct provision systems.

“Ten months on, implementation of the key recommendations has been slow and inadequately resourced,” he said.