News & Media

System Needs Reform - Direct Provision is Not Working

8.12.2009

Tuesday December 8th 2009

 

 

 


System Needs Reform – Direct Provision is Not Working

As we approach Budget Day the Irish Refugee Council is calling on the Minister for Finance to remember one of the most vulnerable groups living in Ireland – asylum seekers who live in Direct Provision. Since the introduction of Direct Provision 10 years ago the weekly payment to asylum seekers has never been improved. The payment of €19.10 per adult per week has never increased since its introduction in 2001.

The Irish Refugee Council believes that we must remember the particular needs of asylum seekers who have come to this country seeking protection: many of whom have fled brutal regimes, torture and persecution. They come to Ireland for safety which is much appreciated but we must also ensure that each asylum seeker is permitted to live with dignity. We realise how we all as a nation are experiencing extreme difficulty at the moment however asylum seekers – particularly women, children, survivors of torture, LGBT members and other vulnerable groups - must never be made scapegoats for policy failures. They must not be forgotten.

We are all now aware of the terrible consequences of institutional care on Irish children we must not let this happen again to children living in Direct Provision. We hear daily of the agony some parents experience living in this system: not allowed to cook for their family, not allowed to study and not allowed to work takes an enormous toll on individual lives. Many wait years for a decision on their asylum application.

An asylum seeker from Sudan recently spoke to the IRC about his sadness and despair: because there is not enough space in the tiny room he lives in with his baby and his wife, for his child to crawl. This father said he feared for his son’s development.

The IRC believes that as the 10th anniversary of Direct Provision approaches we have a new opportunity to improve the asylum process to ensure that each individual asylum seekers’ human rights are respected. This system must not continue where deep  suffering being caused to individuals and their families on a daily basis may cause long term damage. 

In its blanket ban against letting asylum seekers work, Ireland lost an important opportunity during our good years to respect and value one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.  And this lost opportunity has only exacerbated our already difficult economic situation.  The IRC profoundly regrets this lost opportunity. The Irish Government insisted on asylum seekers being dependant on the State's financial resources in the past decade, through an unfair blanket implementation of Direct Provision, when those who could work were willing and eager to work to earn their keep and pay their taxes while they were in the process.  Being allowed to seek work is a basic human right. An important EU law called the Receptions Directive requires Member States to allow asylum seekers to work while they're in the process.  This ensures that people who want to earn their way and contribute to society can do so while their claim is being processed. Ireland, unfortunately, did not sign up to this EU law. 


For further information please contact Roisin Boyd: 087 798 9139