Asylum: where will it all end?
A maternity unit is to be opened in Co Dublin solely for asylum-seekers lured by our daft right to automatic citizenship by place of birth. Meanwhile, an Irishwoman has to endure a nightmare journey from one hospital to another before losing her baby along the way. We should not be so naive as to think that funding for one does not impact on availability of resources for the other.
The Dept. of Social and Community Affairs proposes possibly to double the payments made to asylum- seekers.
Many an Irish family would be well pleased to have 40 per head in discretionary income after free accommodation and a choice of three hot lunch menus each day.
We spent one-third of a billion euro in 2002 without question from our politicians who are strangled by their own self-imposed, politically correct silence as to where it will all end.
We already know that just one in 12 of those who arrive on our shores has a claim of any foundation to asylum. The 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees was an appropriate response to the conditions that faced displaced peoples in post-war Europe.
It is now hopelessly outdated, and provides an uncontrolled path of entry to this country. Our Government must address its primary sovereign duty to protect our borders.
Ted Neville,
Turnberry,
Carrigaline Road,
Douglas,
Co Cork.
