Letters to the Editor: Benefits of presence of migrants in our country

A local resident walks along a street in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine.  There is no doubt that the EU protection directive implemented for people from Ukraine is a model for all migration polices.

This past weekend marked International Migrants Day (December 18). Ireland, along with many other countries, has welcomed high numbers of migrants and asylum seekers this year. As such, now is a good time to reflect on how we welcome migrants nationally and in the context of our membership of the EU.

The Irish Red Cross wishes to acknowledge the response from the Irish government and the general public this year especially. Ireland’s response has been and needs to be based on a recognised right that every person, regardless of their nationality or migration status, has the right to be treated with the same dignity and respect we ourselves would require. Ensuring this right throughout their journey from their country of origin to their arrival in Ireland and their protection and integration in Irish society is a realistic goal.

At home, we ask our fellow citizens to remain committed to welcoming migrants arriving here, and particularly to those seeking international protection. While recognising the challenges, including pressures on the provision of accommodation and other services, we call on Ireland to lead by example and remember our own history of migration around the world and respect the right and need for people to migrate.

At an EU level, we call on the government to ensure legislative developments there are centred around humanity, particularly in negotiations on the last phase of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact (the “pact”). This legislative reform will determine the treatment of migrants entering the EU, and how humanitarian actors are able to deliver assistance to them. However, we are increasingly concerned at the direction these reforms are taking, amid alarming reports of violence at external EU borders. It is crucial that outcomes from the pact allow for fair, accountable and high-quality migration and asylum procedures and dignified reception facilities. EU migration, asylum and border policies should prioritise the protection of fundamental rights. Policies need to consider the consequences for dignity and wellbeing when migrants experience increased violence at EU borders, exacerbating trauma they may have already experienced in their country of origin and en route.

At all levels, we are concerned about the framing and narrative of “security” which often presents migrants as threats rather than human beings with rights, often in need of international protection. Particularly, disproportionate framing in EU legislative developments of migration as a security concern, or as political tool “instrumentalised” by third countries, feed narratives that view migrants as threats and reinforce their criminalisation. In turn, this threatens the work of organisations assisting them, including members of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. Ireland should engage in the negotiations of the pact and ensure rights and humanity are prioritised above such narratives.

There is no doubt that the EU protection directive implemented for people from Ukraine is a model for all migration polices. Migration is a complex phenomenon and is one of the major humanitarian and societal challenges faced by Europe. Ireland, at all levels, must be a voice for the treatment of migrants with dignity and humanity, both in policy and practice. Given the enrichment that migrants from all countries bring in terms of their education, employment skills, service provision and cultural background our focus needs to be on the benefits of their presence in our country.

Liam O’Dwyer

Secretary general, Irish Red Cross

Avoiding crippling debt at Christmas

Most people will be feeling the pinch because of the cost of living this Christmas. The cost of living crisis has stretched many household budgets to the limits. This can force parents and others to look for short-term loans which can be very expensive or even seek out loan sharks who charge up to 40% interest.

Theses are unsavoury options that can lead people into a downward spiral of crippling debt.

Noel Harrington

Kinsale

Co Cork

Charity needed in this festive season

Winter solstice on December 21 is the shortest day of the year. Daylight then gradually increases until summer solstice. Unfortunately, winter solstice is often a harbinger of severe arctic weather, like we recently experienced.

The sun shines along the passage floor into the inner chamber at newgrange during the 2013 winter solstice at Newgrange.

The harsh weather has compounded the hardship of inflation, war and climate change. Many struggling families have little to celebrate this Christmas with charitable organisations inundated with calls for help, as more and more families experience poverty. So far, the number of people seeking help is double what it was 10 years ago. This figure will rise sharply in the run up to Christmas Day, with requests pouring in for much-needed shelter, food, fuel, clothing, and toys.

Christmas is the season to decorate our homes with lights to celebrate the birth of Christ, the ‘true light of the world’. It’s a time for children to receive presents from Santa Claus. It’s an opportunity for families to joyfully reunite for yuletide celebrations. It’s a winter wonderland of peace and goodwill to all.

But, in these challenging times, it’s more important than ever to take a moment to step back from the festivities, shopping, baking, wrapping, and overindulgence of the season to remember those who are in desperate need. By allocating a small fraction of our resources to the poor, the isolated, the lonely, and the homeless we will all share in the blessings of an Irish Christmas.

Billy Ryle

Tralee

Co Kerry

Hands-off policing is creating distrust

The adoption of police governance, transformation and roster ideas from abroad hasn’t worked in An Garda Síochána. In fact it has created division and a serious lack of trust.

Community engagement and policing is now a byword for hands-off policing. No longer can we call the local garda station reporting a specific matter or ask for a specific garda member. We are now put through to a call centre based in Galway.

How someone sitting in a call centre in Galway knows what someone in Donegal, Kerry, or Leitrim wants or needs is beyond me.

This transformation is a sop to the academics who compiled this tome on transformation and governance, who pride themselves in evidence-based methodologies, based on research, rather than on the ground hands on policing.

Is this an attempt by Garda management to alienate both the public and the gardaí themselves from what has always been a hands-on community engagement policing service?

I shall never forget the principles and pillars of policing when I joined. We were there to serve the public without fear or favour, ill will or malice, and that our primary goals were the prevention and detection of crime and the preservation of life and property. Not a bad set of principles and goals. Why change a winning formula?

Christy Galligan (retired garda sergeant)

Letterkenny

Co Donegal

Raise a generation free from tobacco

Perhaps the best news of the year comes from New Zealand, where they have passed a unique law that makes it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. Millions of lives will most probably be saved by this bold move.

In 2016 I submitted a petition, P00025/16 — ‘Creating a Tobacco free Ireland’ to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Petitions. This petition was broadly similar to the New Zealand measures now being introduced, but would have protected anyone born into the new millennium.

In the reply from the committee closing — ie refusing — the petition, I was informed that, ‘The Department of Health has an action plan for a Tobacco Free Ireland (TFI) and is constantly making progress in this way’. The TFI programme has a target to reduce smoking to less than 5% by 2025. Unfortunately, the latest report from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health, in June 2022, mentions that 18% of the population are still smokers, up from 17% in 2019. These figures would indicate that without drastic speedy action, there is very little chance of reaching the 5% target by 2025.

Perhaps someone in government could look again at ways whereby we can create a tobacco free generation in line with the New Zealand initiative. I live in hope.

Bobby (Robert) Carty

Templeogue

Dublin 6W