Doubling a miserly allowance of €19.10 a week for asylum seekers in direct provision centres would represent a cheap sop to public opinion. It avoids the more important issue of their right to work, contained in a UN charter signed by Ireland, which – once again – is being denied. International condemnation of the direct provision system appears to have had little effect on the official mindset.
Slow progress is, however, being made where the children of asylum seekers are concerned. Evidence that overcrowded conditions and social isolation have affected their educational potential and mental health has caused a working group established by the Department of Justice to recommend that the Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon should, at last, be allowed to investigate individual cases. In addition, Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan has promised that children who have been five years in education here will not have to pay third level fees and will be entitled to appropriate student supports.
Allowances have remained unchanged for 15 years. Recession and unemployment closed off public debate on the conditions imposed on these people in dispersal centres. During the past year or so, that has begun to change. But differences of opinion exist, inside and outside of Government, on the introduction of a more humane system. The number of asylum applicants has fallen to fewer that 1,000 a year, compared to 10,000 at the turn of the century. Costs have also fallen.
But the displacement of populations, caused by wars in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere, has caused official unease. The number of Syrian refugees alone may exceed five million by year’s end. And while Ireland has offered to take 310 of these dispossessed people and provide automatic working and social welfare rights, Germany will take 20,000.
A Government commitment to reduce the processing time for asylum applications to less than a year, remains problematical. Fifteen hundred people, including children, have been living in cramped, often unsuitable, direct provision accommodation for more than five years. To qualify for a “fast track” process, these applicants may be required to drop any legal challenge to their deportation. In spite of its limitations, this report represents a useful exercise because it addresses some of the harsh conditions affecting asylum seekers. The four long years it has taken to reach this point, however, reflects a failure of political nerve. Even if these recommendations are accepted by Cabinet, the chances of a revised Immigrant, Resident and Protection Bill being debated and passed by the Oireachtas before a general election is called appears unlikely. Recently there has been much talk, but little action, involving a more compassionate approach to the needs of asylum-seeker families. They deserve better.