The Irish Refugee Council has called on the Government to use its influence in Europe to stem moves towards tighter external EU border controls which would deprive refugees of their rights to seek protection.
The council said it was ironic that EU heads of state would meet in Spain this week after celebrating Word Refugee Day today to discuss measures which would "indiscriminately prevent asylum-seekers reaching the safety of the EU".
"Ireland must use its influence to end this contradiction," said the council's chief executive," Mr Peter O'Mahony.
"Access to a place of safety is at the core of refugee protection. Without this, the right to seek asylum is meaningless. The Government must use the opportunity at the heads of state summit in Seville this weekend to ensure that all EU states respect international human rights and refugee law to allow refugees access to European territory to present their asylum claims."
Mr O'Mahony said it was "almost impossible" for someone fleeing persecution to enter the EU legally even though international law recognised that many people who were forced to flee persecution had to use false documentation. "Refugees are people forced to flee their countries due to persecution. EU countries are obliged, under international law, to admit asylum-seekers while adjudicating on their claims to be recognised as refugees."
Mr O'Mahony said that while the council recognised the right of states to control their borders, that right was subject to international human rights law. "Tougher border controls, harsher visa requirements and sanctions levied against airline and ferry companies all indiscriminately prevent those fleeing persecution from entering the EU and force them into the hands of criminal networks."
Since the late 1990s, when there was a noticeable increase in the number of asylum-seekers coming to Ireland, the State's response to asylum issues had been debated in increasingly negative terms, Mr O'Mahony said. "The sense of 'panic' currently dominating political debate on asylum is worrying. The perception that Ireland is overwhelmed by asylum-seekers is without basis in fact."
Mr O'Mahony also said that the council was "extremely concerned" at suggestions that Irish development aid might in the future be conditional on recipient states entering into repatriation agreements. "It is a dangerous precedent to make Irish development aid contingent on a state's ability to prevent irregular migration. Tackling illegal immigration requires more than reinforcing border controls; it requires a comprehensive strategy which addresses the causes of forced displacement and poverty."
Immigration officials said yesterday that they expected about 10,000 asylum applications to be made in Ireland this year, roughly the same number as last year. In the first five months of this year, 4,216 applications for refugee status were made. Ten per cent of asylum applicants are recognised as refugees, with virtually the same rights as Irish citizens.