Immigration Bill plays into hands of traffickers
This provision is included in the Immigration Bill 2002 which was scheduled to go before the Cabinet yesterday before being rushed through the Seanad today.
Our media have given sympathetic coverage in recent days to the first anniversary of the suffocation of eight Turkish people in a container that arrived in Rosslare.
Introducing these fines will force more desperate people into the hands of people traffickers, with the inevitable danger of equally horrific results.
A range of organisations, including all the main churches, the ICTU, the Irish Refugee Council, the Irish Road Hauliers Association, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International have expressed their opposition to this move.
The proposed carriers' liability legislation is in contravention of international refugee law, which specifically forbids states from imposing penalties on asylum seekers forced to flee by illegal means.
The Minister clearly hopes to rush the Bill through without proper discussion. But its 'no room at the inn' implications wont' be lost on Irish people and they should let the politicians know it.
Seán Love,
Director,
Amnesty International (Irish Section),
Fleet St.,
Dublin 2
