The unacceptable policy of asylum seekers waiting for years in temporary accommodation for determination of their cases will inevitably lead to further "flashpoints", Amnesty International said today.
The claim by Colm O'Cuanachain, secretary general of Amnesty International's Irish section, comes in the wake of last week's hunger strike by Afghans in Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral.
Speaking at the publication of the body's annual report, he said that holding asylum seekers for long periods in temporary accommodation without access to education or employment leads to "an unnecessary climate of fear and tension".
In its report Amnesty highlights the fact that the UN's Convention against Racism has not been incorporated into Irish law.
Mr O'Cuanachain said Amnesty had a real concern about the level of racism in Ireland and leadership was needed from the government on the issue.
"The level of commitment by the state on anti-racism, is falling far short of our international commitments," he said. "We need concerted leadership and investment in anti-racism."
Amnesty's Irish section also called for the government to inspect and monitor US flights through Shannon airport to ensure that they are not being used to transfer prisoners to the US illegally.
"Rendition is torture in disguise and the suspension of human rights by the US government simply isn't working," said Mr O'Cuanachain. "The world continues to be at grave risk from terrorism.
"Diplomatic assurances that Shannon is not being used for rendition are not enough. They mean nothing in terms of the law."
Amnesty estimates that there was 1,000 secret flights through European airspace between 2001 and 2005 by the CIA, some of which may have carried prisoners for rendition.
Internationally Amnesty said there was increasing evidence that the war on terror was being used as an excuse for the erosion of human rights.
In Ireland it said the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act "contained such broad and vague definitions that there were concerns that it could lead to violation of the right of association, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression".
Mannete Ramaili, ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho to Ireland, also spoke at the publication of the report.
While acknowledging the work of Bono and Bob Geldof on the Drop the Debt campaign, she highlighted the situation where countries such as Lesotho are effectively punished for good management of their debt, when other counties have their debts erased.