Any Government moves to introduce food vouchers, instead of cash welfare payments, for asylum-seekers would be a form of apartheid, a coalition of antiracism groups has said.
The National Federation of Campaigns Against Racism is urging the Government to scrap its plans to introduce "direct provision" for asylum-seekers early next year.
"A voucher system would be akin to sticking a yellow star on asylum-seekers to set them apart from Irish citizens," said Mr Pat Guerin, a federation member.
"It is discriminatory, unconstitutional and demeaning in that it would mark them out in a very public way. It will effectively introduce a form of apartheid in Irish society," he added.
The Government plans to replace cash payments to asylum-seekers with some sort of direct provision, such as food vouchers, debit cards or full-board accommodation, by next April.
This is in response to Department of Justice concerns that a scheme to switch to voucher payments in Britain by that date would lead to an increase in the numbers of asylum-seekers coming to Ireland to avail of more generous welfare provision.
Representatives of the Romanian and Nigerian communities - the two largest ethnic groups of asylum-seekers in the State - joined human rights groups in criticising the plans at a press conference yesterday.
Mr Sorin Costica, of the Community of Romanians in Ireland, said a voucher scheme would remind his members of communist days, when they had special books which they had to hand over the counter to buy goods.
Mr Derek Stewart, of the Irish Refugee Council, said he was opposed to the dispersal of asylum-seekers outside Dublin without preparing the new arrivals or the host communities. "People have been forcibly resettled in Kerry in the past few days without any preparation. Dispersal should be voluntary and prepared, and these were not," he said.
The Government has not formally launched its policy of dispersal, but more than 150 new arrivals have been settled outside Dublin in recent weeks.
Mr Donncha O'Connell, the director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, objected to Government plans to set up short-term reception centres for asylum-seekers, as this would be "warehousing a class of people".