THE UN refugee agency has warned that the Government’s failure to pass an immigration Bill is having a “serious impact on the human rights” of asylum seekers and costing the State money.
In an unusual step, the UNHCR has also appealed to all political parties ahead of the election to overhaul the asylum system by introducing a single procedure for assessing asylum claims as soon as a new government is formed.
In a letter sent to all party leaders, the agency warns the lack of a single procedure has led to a protection gap, whereby people fleeing torture have to wait for years before their application for protection is considered. The lengthy delays are placing a considerable burden on the State, it says.
Department of Justice figures show 2,778 of the 6,149 asylum seekers living in direct provision centres have been there for more than three years. Some asylum seekers wait more than five years to get a final decision on their claims for protection even though the direct provision system was introduced as an emergency measure to accommodate people for a period of up to six months.
Between 2002 and mid-2009 the Government spent €2.26 billion processing claims and accommodating asylum seekers.
A single procedure for considering asylum claims would enable immigration officials to consider whether a person is entitled to all the different forms of international protection at the one time.
Under the current system immigration, officials must first consider whether someone is a refugee in fear of individual persecution as a result of their race, religion, nationality or political opinion.
Only then can they go on to consider whether they should be granted subsidiary protection.
Under EU law, subsidiary protection is available when a person cannot return to their country due to generalised or indiscriminate violence in their home country.
The Government included a single procedure to assess asylum claims in the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill, which was first published in 2008.
However, the Bill was never passed and an updated version of the Bill in 2010 also failed to pass the Dáil when the election was called.
The lack of a single procedure means many asylum seekers from lawless countries such as Somalia, Sudan and Iraq face long delays before they can have a claim for subsidiary protection considered.
The UNHCR said it wants a new government to consider passing a discrete legislative measure as soon as possible to introduce a single procedure mechanism if there is any possibility that a more comprehensive immigration Bill would face significant delay.
“UNHCR is concerned that people who have been recognised by the Irish authorities as being in need of international protection as a result of indiscriminate violence in their home country, have, on average, waited for four years for the decision to be made,” said Sophie Magennis, head of UNHCR Ireland.
“These significant delays have a profound impact on the lives of people who have already suffered serious trauma in the countries from which they have fled. This is a situation which must be addressed at the earliest opportunity,” she said.
The UNHCR letter says the agency will request a meeting with each political party’s spokesperson on immigration following the election.
The agency is also offering a new government technical support and training to help introduce the new procedure.
The UNHCR usually attempts to influence government policies by working privately behind the scenes. But over the past year the agency’s Irish office has spoken out publicly about Ireland’s extremely low acceptance rate of refugees and its failure to pass an immigration Bill, which was first floated back in 2001.