Sir, – The terms of reference for the working group on direct provision were recently published ("Working group announced to examine direct provision ", October 14th). These were announced following eight weeks of protest by asylum seekers against the inhumane conditions in which they are forced to live. These protests cannot be dismissed as isolated incidents. Twenty per cent of all direct provision centres in the country have now protested against both local conditions and the system itself. Thanks to their courageous public stand, the truth about life in direct provision has been widely broadcast across the national media.
Despite the widespread public revulsion against the “open prison” that is direct provision, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has seen fit to dismiss these concerns. The terms of reference make the objectives of this working group very clear. Direct provision will remain in place. Any suggestions for improvement will be governed by “cost efficiency”, continued ghettoisation and deterrence. The testimony of asylum seekers will continue to be ignored.
The inclusion of just one former asylum seeker among the 12 NGO representatives cannot conceal the fact that no current asylum seekers will be party to these deliberations. The Department of Justice may gesture towards treating asylum seekers with “respect and dignity”, but it is hard to imagine a greater indignity than constantly being spoken about and for. This working group further silences and marginalises asylum seekers who have to live with the damage that this system has inflicted upon them.
This week, Anti-Deportation Ireland (ADI) issued a statement calling on NGOs on the working group to resign their seats so that asylum seekers chosen by residents in direct provision can take their place. We support ADI’s call. It is wholly unacceptable that a group discussing the present and future conditions of asylum seekers should so disdainfully exclude them. People who are suffering in this system are the ones best placed to speak to its inadequacies.
While those NGOs taking part no doubt do so in good faith, the terms of reference make it clear that this is a cosmetic exercise. The restriction of the working group to considering only limited reform to direct provision is unacceptable. As the scandalous history of institutionalisation in this country demonstrates, there can be no reforming a system of institutional living such as direct provision. As many of the NGOs involved in the working group themselves agree, it must be abolished.
Once this working group has done the Minister’s work, there will be little room for further negotiation in the lifetime of this government. The working group as it is currently constituted will do nothing to alleviate the conditions that asylum seekers endure. Given this, we call on NGO representatives to insist that asylum seekers take their place at the table. – Yours, etc,
1 Dr Jody Allen Randolph, University College Dublin (research fellow)
2 Paddy Anderson, Cork Institute of Technology
3 Dr Kate Antosik-Parsons, University College Dublin
4 Professor Margot Backus, University of Texas at Austin
5 Dr Rebecca Barr, NUI Galway
6 Dr Claire Bracken, Union College, New York
7 Professor John , University College Dublin
8 Dr Patrick Bresnihan, Maynooth University
9 Harry Browne Dublin Institute of Technology
10 Dr Audrey Bryan, St Patrick’s College, DCU
11 Dr Mick Byrne, Maynooth University
12 Dr Susan Cahill, Concordia University, Montreal
13 Dr Nick Chisholm, University College Cork
14 Professor Danielle Clarke, University College Dublin
15 Professor Mary Clayton, University College Dublin
16 Dr Lucy Collins, University College Dublin
17 Dr Denis Condon, Maynooth University
18 Professor Claire Connolly, University College Cork
19 Dr Íde Corley, Maynooth University
20 Professor Patricia Coughlan, University College Cork (retired)
21 Dr Veronica Crosbie, DCU
22 Dr. Eamonn Crudden, Dundalk Institute of Technology
23 Professor Nick Daly, UCD
24 Dr Sharae Deckard, UCD
25 Professor Alex Davis, UCC
26 Claire Dorrity, UCC
27 Dr Dara Downey, UCC
28 Dr Mel Duffy DCU
29 Dr Mairead Enright. University of Kent
30 Dr Alice Feldman, UCD
31 Professor Harry Ferguson, University of Nottingham
32 Dr Eluska Fernández, UCC
33 Mike Fitzgibbon, UCC
34 Dr Roddy Flynn, DCU
35 Dr Oona Frawley, Maynooth University
36 Dr. Kathy Glavanis-Grantham, UCC (retired)
37 Dr Luz Mar Gonzalez-Arías, University of Oviedo
38 Dr Breda Gray, University of Limerick
39 Dr Rosarii Griffin, UCC
40 Dr Jane Grogan, UCD
41 Dr Clare Hayes-Brady, UCD
42 Dr Valerie Heffernan. Maynooth University
43 Eileen Hogan, UCC
44 Dr Jones Irwin, St Patrick’s College, DCU
45 Dr Kylie Jarrett. Maynooth University
46 Dr Anne Sofia Karhio, University of Bergen, Norway
47 Andre Kenneally. UCC
48 Dr Seán Kennedy, St Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
49 Dr Sinéad Kennedy, Maynooth University
50 Gregor Kerr, Chair District 14 Irish National Teachers Organisation (personal capacity)
51 Dr Nicholas Kiersey. Ohio University
52 Dr Karl Kitching. UCC
53 Dr Carmen Kuhling, University of Limerick
54 Zoe Lawlor, University of Limerick
55 Dr Stefanie Lehner, Queen’s University Belfast
56 Professor Ronit Lentin. Trinity College Dublin (retired)
57 Brian McMahon, Cork Institute of Technology
58 Professor Kathleen Lynch, UCD
59 Dr Mary McAuliffe, UCD
60 Dr Sandra McAvoy, UCC
61 Dr Piaras MacEinrí, UCC
62 Professor Mairtin Mac an Ghaill, UCC
63 Dr Caroline Magennis, University of Salford
64 Dr Frances McCormack, NUI Galway
65 Professor Lucy McDiarmaid. Montclair State University
66 Dr Charlotte McIvor, NUI Galway
67 Dr Sarah McKibben, University of Notre Dame
68 Dr Rosie Meade, UCC
69 Professor Gerardine Meaney, UCD
70 Dr. Naomi Millner, University of Bristol
71 Dermod Moore, Chair, Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy
72 Dr Katie Moylan, University of Leicester
73 Dr Anne Mulhall, UCD
74 Dr Orla Murphy, UCC
75 Dr Diane Nititham, National Louis University
76 Dr Féilim Ó hAdhmaill, UCC
77 Dr Anne O’Brien, Maynooth University
78 Dr Cian O’Callaghan, Maynooth University
79 Dr Aileen O’Carroll, Maynooth University
80 Dr Angela O’Connell, UCC
81 Dr Brendan O’Connell, TCD
82 Dr Paul O’Connell, School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS)
83 Dr Jenny O’Connor, Waterford Institute of Technology
84 Dr Maureen O’Connor, UCC
85 Dr Tom O’Connor, Cork Institute of Technology
86 Órla O’Donovan, UCC
87 Dr Clíona Ó Gallchóir, UCC
88 Dr Clare O’Halloran, UCC
89 Dr Margaret O’Keeffe, Cork Institute of Technology
90 Dr Theresa O’Keefe, Maynooth University
91 Dr Eleanor O’Leary, Maynooth University
92 Rory O’Neill, Dublin Institute of Technology
93 Dr Stephen O’Neill, Maynooth University
94 Dr Jacqui O Riordan, UCC
95 Dr Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin, Cork Institute of Technology
96 Jane Maeve O’ Sullivan, UCC
97 Dr Tina O’Toole, University of Limerick
98 Dr Maria Parsons, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
99 Dr Niamh Pattwell, UCD
100 Dr Emilie Pine, UCD
101 Dr Deirdre Quinn. Maynooth University
102 Dr Emma Radley, UCD
103 Dr Stephanie Rains, Maynooth University
104 Professor Maureen T. Reddy, Rhode Island College
105 Sinéad Redmond, Maynooth University
106 Dr Irina Ruppo Malone, NUI Galway
107 Dr Eugenia Siapera, DCU
108 Tracey Skillington, UCC
109 Ailbhe Smyth, UCD (Retired)
110 Tom Stokes, Stillorgan College of further Education (Retired)
111 Dr Moynagh Sullivan, Maynooth University
112 Dr Teodora Todorova, University of Nottingham
113 Stephen Thornhill, UCC
114 Dr Gavan Titley, Maynooth University
115 Anwen Tormey, University of Chicago
116 Dr Jason Toynbee, Open University
117 Professor Amal Treacher Kabesh, University of Nottingham
118 Mark Tyndall Maynooth University
119 Professor Joe Valente, State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo
120 Dr Angela Veale, University College Cork
121 Dr Illan Wall, University of Warwick
122 Dr Karen Wells, Birkbeck College, London
123 Dr Allen White, University College Cork