Sir, – It is welcome news that the Government of Ireland has decided to welcome thousands of refugees to our country, in a matter of weeks.
The timing of their arrival is particularly welcome since it allows us several weeks to find housing for every single family currently homeless in this great nation. And then it allows us time to house properly those asylum seekers already in Ireland and living for years in direct provision accommodation.
We know that the members of our Government are honourable. We know that, in this instance, they will do the honourable thing. They must house those already homeless in Ireland before providing homes to those most deserving refugees. – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA R MOYNIHAN,
Castaheany,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Over recent weeks some commentators in these pages and elsewhere have focused on problems facing Ireland and the EU, including homelessness and unemployment, which in their opinion alleviate us of responsibility to welcome refugees into Ireland.
Undoubtedly we do have problems in Ireland. However, it is important to put these problems in context. We are currently living in the most prosperous continent the world has ever seen. War does not loom over Ireland. Famine is not killing our kin. A new generation of Irish cannot comprehend a time when this was not the norm.
The refugee crisis provides an opportunity for Ireland to remember a time when much poorer countries and peoples allowed Irish people to seek refuge in their homelands by the hundreds of thousands. Now we have an ability like never before to accept tens of thousands of desperate and unfortunate refugees ourselves.
There will always be an excuse to say “no” but in thinking about our response we must respond to the following questions with courage: “If not us, who? If not now, when?” – Yours, etc,
ROSS McCARTHY,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Peter Sutherland and other utopians are looking through rose-tinted glasses when they see nothing but a rosy future of employment creation, complete integration and harmony for a Europe faced with a flood of uncontrolled immigration which is increasing by the day.
As we have no way of accommodating or employing millions of new immigrants in the short term, my glasses would be much darker.
I see a Europe with a third-world future – cities with enormous shanty towns perched on the outskirts, with all the accompanying health and social problems, wreaking havoc on national budgets and making current welfare payments unsustainable.
I have been to most of the countries in the Middle East and north Africa, and found the people there to be among the friendliest and most hospitable in the world, but there is a minority element of fanatics who do not allow others to think, act or believe outside their narrow parameters. Where will the tolerant, liberal Europe be with an increasingly fascist minority?
Probably neither of these two extremes will come to pass, but it will certainly fall somewhere between the two – where exactly remains to be seen.
Angela Merkel is right when she says Germany will be changed forever. So will the rest of Europe. – Yours, etc,
NORMAN DAVIES,
Bray, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – We are all aware that the current wave of refugees can be traced in the main back to failed and violent states such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
While most people recognise our responsibilities as human beings to the refugees, many are questioning why we in the West should take on such a burden. Some make the point of “looking after our own” first when they should be asking “why are we not looking after our own as well?”. Others wonder why rich Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia don’t take more refugees but don’t realise that many of these countries haven’t signed up to international conventions on refugees and are generally averse to taking them in.
A key point to note is that the West has a direct connection to the tragic situations forcing people from their homes. In northern Africa and the Middle East, misguided western intervention in numerous countries has broken the social fabric, leading to violence and war. The global arms trade, which is primarily based in the richer economies, is a huge beneficiary of the ongoing violence.
While the overwhelming support for refugees is certainly welcome we must also question our politicians on how EU and global corporations have been allowed to benefit from the increased breakdown in these regions. As we approach the critical climate change talks in Paris it is also worth reflecting that one of the major impacts of increased adverse weather will be mass migration of people from impoverished nations, so what we are seeing now may only be a precursor to what may come.
One can only hope that this provides the required motivation to global leaders to come up with an effective plan for global mitigation of the worst impacts of climate change. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Sir , – Europe is neither in a position economically to provide jobs for the these migrants, nor sociologically equipped to accommodate the lifestyle they cherish. That will inevitably lead to exclusion, deprivation and discontent and ultimately to radicalisation and acts of violence. Creating artificial homes in a faraway country is not the solution to a refugee crisis. It is rather making their home countries safe to live in, even if it requires military action. This task would not be beyond Europe’s capabilities, unlike trying to house all these unfortunate people. – Yours, etc,
TOMASZ PIATEK,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Regarding the Government’s welcome – though somewhat belated – decision to accept some 4,000 refugees, no doubt the majority of these displaced persons will be accommodated in such places as the exclusive Ballsbridge area of Dublin 4 and in the leafy south Dublin suburbs of Rathgar, Dalkey and Killiney. The remainder will probably be housed in the salubrious residential quarters of Clontarf, Sutton and Howth. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
A chara, – It is good to see that plans are being made to prioritise the most needy refugees from the crisis in Syria, as well as vetting all comers. That the strong will push their way forward at the expense of the weak and vulnerable and that militants will use the confusion they have caused as a cover to sneak radicals into our midst are concerns that have been raised by many; hopefully the sensible arrangements proposed will address these worries.
However, I hope adequate resources will be deployed to allow for quick, as well as thorough, processing. The last thing we need is for these “reception centres” to turn into what are essentially direct provision centres under another name. Reasonable speed will allow people to integrate quickly into communities throughout our society and become part of the “new Irish”, instead of becoming increasingly frustrated strangers behind fences on our shores.
There is a practical as well as a humane reason for doing this. Keeping people in some kind of camp for long and seemingly endless periods will surely end in those camps becoming breeding grounds for the kind of radicalism that caused these people to flee their homelands in the first place. – Is mise,
Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – Jean-Claude Juncker has rightly pointed out that “O’Neills and Murphys living in the US exceeds the number in Ireland”, and indeed European migrants have gone to America over the centuries, but while it may have been beneficial for the migrants, I cannot help but feel that it did not work out so well for the Native Americans. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN KELLY,
Athlone,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which many blame for fomenting and financing the civil war in Syria, has no asylum system. It simply deports asylum seekers, regardless of any danger that awaits them at home. This in spite of the fact that its economy depends on nine million foreign workers. These foreign workers can only work for six years before going home, lest they upset the ethnic make-up of the kingdom.
Last year it deported 300,000 illegal migrants and it promised to deport a million more. Stung by criticism of its lack of help for Syrian refugees, it has committed itself to building 200 new mosques in Germany. So that’s all right then. – Yours, etc,
TIM O’HALLORAN,
Finglas,
Dublin 11.