Ireland will need to give asylum to those fleeing climate change, Roderic O'Gorman says

A 2004 photo of Tarawa atoll in Kiribati whose citizens are moving to higher Pacific islands such as Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji — now Fiji itself is relocating coastal villages ahead of rising seas. Picture: Richard Vogel/AP

The asylum system will have to be expanded to include a new category for people fleeing the effects of climate change, the Integration Minister has said.

Roderic O’Gorman also believes the visa system should be widened to allow more economic migrants into this country in the coming years to fill positions where there are currently skills shortages.

A total of 13,319 people applied for asylum in Ireland last year, according to data released by the Department of Justice, the highest figure since records began. This did not include almost 70,000 Ukrainian refugees  who have been granted protection in Ireland in the last year.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, told the 'Irish Examiner' asylum systems worldwide must provide for climate refugees. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Mr O’Gorman warned that he does not see this as a temporary spike and Ireland will have to prepare to cater for increased numbers of people arriving here each year.

In an interview with the  Irish Examiner, Mr O’Gorman said people forced to leave their homes because of climate change will have to be included in the asylum process in future.

The climate crisis is creating an uncertain future for people in many parts of the world, with increasing drought, soaring temperatures, and rising sea levels impacting communities.

This year, Fiji, which is made up of more than 300 Pacific islands, drafted a plan to relocate 42 villages in the next five to 10 years to higher locations away from the shore.

Mr O’Gorman said: “I think all of Europe is going to have to expect more migration, more inward migration. Parts of Europe have experienced very significant amounts in the last decade. By and large Ireland has been receiving relatively small amounts and I think it’s likely that that’s going to change.”

He said there is now a real “humanitarian element” to climate change, and this is something governments will have to grapple with as the issue becomes more pronounced in the years to come.

In this context, Mr O’Gorman said a defined group within the asylum process will have to be established to take in those fleeing their homes due for climate reasons.

He said it would have to be done at an “international basis”. 

“I think that’s something I would like to see but I think that’s something that would have to be done at an international basis,” the Green Party TD said.

"It is very real that habitable land is being rendered uninhabitable and that is going to have impacts across the world for the European Union and for Ireland.

That’s something international law is going to have to grapple with because they are not economic migrants in the in the traditional sense — some of them are fleeing a place that no longer exists, or at least may no longer be habitable for humans.

He said that, in the medium term, the Government will have to examine “other ways” to allow economic migrants to enter this country legally.

“I think we know there are very significant demands in certain parts of the economy, certain parts of the labour market,” he said.

“There are shortages, and we will need people to come and work and take up those positions. I think we will certainly have to look at expanding work visas. 

In a shocking image from 2021, a local man tries to fight forest fires approaching his village on Evia, Greece's second-largest island. Picture: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty

“We’re going to have to build a migration system that recognises that, build a system that does provide legal pathways for those who want to come here for economic reasons."

Mr O’Gorman added that applications from those fleeing war and persecution will have to be processed in a timely manner.

“We don’t want to go back to a situation we had 10 years ago where people were waiting five, six, seven years which of course was entirely unacceptable.”

However, he added that deportations will have to be a factor in any system as “international protection is for a particular purpose”.

“It is there for people who are fleeing war or fleeing conflict, fleeing torture or political persecution in their own country, and it has to be kept for those people who need it.”