Irish Examiner view: Visa changes inevitable in volatile world

Justice Minister Helen McEntee says there is evidence that the visa-exemption scheme is being exploited.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022, may come to be marked as the day when the land of céad míle fáilte ran into the forces of trans-continental migration that are abroad in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and which are unlikely to diminish for years.

From 12pm yesterday, refugees granted a convention travel document under a Council of Europe agreement will now need to apply for a visa to travel to Ireland. The decision has been taken because of the increasing number of refugees who have already been granted status in other countries who are travelling to Ireland and applying for refugee status again.

Ukrainians are exempt from this change, although there have been claims that Ireland is running out of accommodation to house them. Since February, up to 40,000 have arrived here from Ukraine, having fled Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and more than 30,000 have been offered accommodation. The great majority of arrivals are mothers and children, and, quite properly, vulnerable war refugees will continue to be the Government’s priority.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee says there is evidence that the visa-exemption scheme is being exploited, “including by some who enter the State and subsequently claim international protection, despite having already been granted such protection by another European state”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there has been “a surge” in international protection applications in recent months and implies that Britain’s Rwanda policy, which threatens to transfer asylum seekers to Central Africa, but which has not yet been implemented, has influenced the dramatic increase.

Around 70% of those requiring accommodation at Citywest, where tents have been erected, are not Ukrainians, said Mr Martin, but are part of “the wider international protection system”. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the Cabinet decision will “help protect Ukrainians”. 

There are echoes of this in Britain, when that country points out that more than 28,000 illegal immigrants landed on its shores last year, with more than 70% of those being men between the ages of 18 and 39 from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Eritrea, and Albania.

The British government’s view is ruthlessly simple, and much derided and distrusted in Ireland: It says many of these arrivals are queue jumpers, exploited by criminal gangs, and their presence takes resources away from other asylum seekers with a more legitimate claim to residence.

Our special correspondent, Mick Clifford, said at the weekend that, so far, there has been broad acceptance of our obligations to assist some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. 

He added: “There has been little political or social traction in ‘othering’ refugees. Maintaining all of that in the face of the evolving situation will be difficult.”

The ability to provide a safe haven depends not only on the fairness of our citizens, but also on a recognition that the system is being equitably applied, not gamed by anyone. 

Setting a review timetable of 12 months is sensible but, given international turbulence, do not bet upon it being scrapped in July 2023, or bet that demands for further restrictions will not be made. This humanitarian crisis will become more complex.