Sir, - Kevin Myers is to be commended for his positive view of the multiracial, multicultural society that we are fast becoming (An Irishman's Diary, September 27th). However, by claiming that asylum-seekers are not "for the most part" what they claim to be, but in fact "economic migrants", he is muddying the waters, and giving comfort to those in our society who grasp at any opportunity to display their xenophobia.
Firstly, they are asylum-seekers: anyone has the right, under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to seek asylum in another state. They are not necessarily, however, refugees. Given the very narrow definition of "refugee" codified in the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, few of them will attain that status. For example, in Germany, you must be persecuted by a recognised government, so that Afghans fleeing the Taliban - not a recognised government - cannot be granted refugee status (see Paul Cullen, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Ireland, Cork University Press, 2000). The line between economic migrant and refugee is in any case a thin one, given that certain governments will use famine among other economic means to persecute minorities or other groups of which they disapprove.
Secondly, whereas it is undoubtedly true that many of them seek economic betterment, often fleeing conditions of unimaginable hardship, they are obliged to present themselves as asylum-seeker due to the total lack of a proper immigration policy in Ireland, or in most other European countries. It is simply the only way at present to get a hearing.
As Kevin Myers admits, economic migrants should represent a potential enrichment of our society. We need them as much as they need us, both economically and in human terms. But by his intemperate presentation of the case, he is in danger of obscuring the issue, and lending credence to prejudice. He is well aware of the power of words, and should recognise his responsibilities accordingly. - Yours, etc.,
Pat Little, Clarinda Park West, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.