THERE ARE an estimated 4,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa presently living in Ireland. According to the Irish Refugee Council, the Department of Justice made about 500 decisions concerning those who applied for asylum in Ireland last year, recognising 200 of them, while another 100 were awarded humanitarian status.
If these figures are correct, then up to 200 immigrants may face immediate deportation. What s more, approximately 3,500 others remain in limbo, many claiming supplementary welfare assistance, others begging, unable to legally support themselves until their applications are processed. However, as is spelled out by one informed source close to the African immigrant community in Ireland, the labelling of these people as spongers is both damaging and erroneous.
When people come to a place like Ireland for shelter and protection, they find themselves as if they were in prison, he states. Psychologically they are demoralised because they cannot do anything. They are not allowed even to work. Most of those people have different skills and qualifications, and we have to realise that, in the long term, these people can be very positive for this country.
They are ready to contribute, but they become like children, he adds. People are feeding them. They are in a position where they are even more traumatised because they are effectively prisoners, they don t have access to work. We have medical doctors, engineers, people with tremendous skills, but unfortunately the image portrayed of the refugee community is one of people coming just for the dole money. That s ridiculous, why would a professional medical doctor come here for #65.
And, as Nadette Foley of the Irish Refugee Council points out: These people come from a country where there is no welfare system, so they re not accustomed to it.
However, even anti-racist activists admit that it would be foolish not to concede that there mayb e a small percentage of immigrants who are engaged in something like deliberate exploitation of the social welfare system. Frank Buckley, of the Smithfield Community Centre and Soccer Against Racism points out that there are loopholes that some people are recognising. They re coming from the UK or Holland maybe, and exploiting the services and resources we have here. So there is that element and you ve got to draw it out.
Not least, of course, because they distract attention from the entirely legitimate claims of the bulk of refugees whether they re fleeing poverty or oppression.
As Frank Buckley puts it: I make no distinction between an economic refugee or a tortured or endangered refugee if they re in trouble, they re in trouble.
Undoubtedly, the arrival of the first wave of immigrants in Ireland has been the source of some racial tension. There s been no shortage of complaints in the media about Eastern European refugees begging for change on the streets of Dublin, or non Irish national Big Issues vendors allegedly harassing motorists and pedestrians.
But of course, as any member of the travelling community will testify, the capacity for prejudice has always existed in Ireland. Indeed, as Louis Lentin s recent documentary No More Blooms illustrated, the Irish were guilty of a hostile attitude to Jewish refugees before and after the Second World War.
I got Soccer Against Racism together as a reaction against the ignorant attitudes that community leaders had towards the flood of refugees in a particular area, recounts Buckley. The bottom line is fear. Refugees congregate in areas easily accessible for social welfare and cheap accommodation, so for obvious reasons, there d be a lot more in Smithfield than there would be in Thomas Street. So, the community go, Why don t they go somewhere else? It s fear of them taking the jobs, but we all know they re not allowed to work anyway. And to be honest, the media would ve just gone for a good headline.
Also, the elections didn t help. As ever, politicians, whatever way they felt about it, they wouldn t have let their feelings be known, they d have just agreed. That heightened tension.
The activities of certain Irish immigration officers constitute another sensitive issue. An African Church Pastor working as counsellor and advisor to refugees reports the following: We had a case of an elder of the African Church, who has been granted permission to stay here, going abroad, and on his way back he was forced into a terrible situation. He didn t know, as a full refugee, that he needed travel documents, a Green card, and he was stopped by immigration. They went searching his suitcase and looking at clothes, asking questions like Where did you buy this? They even asked his wife, this Irish woman, for a marriage certificate, he adds. They had to stay at the airport for an hour, he and this pregnant woman, your sister, a citizen of this country. He was not even allowed go to the loo. This is someone preaching the gospel in Ireland. Does everybody married to Irish people have to bring their certificate abroad?
Indeed, on RTE s Questions And Answers recently, Irish Times columnist John Waters admitted to being so fed up of the probings of immigration officers at Dublin Airport, he has taken to returning their salutations in a Russian accent.
Amnesty International and The Irish Refugee Council are currently seeking the formation of an independent body, separate from the Department Of Justice, to deal with the refugees cases.
The problem is one of legislation and identification, explains Nadette Foley. We want statutory procedure for deciding who is a refugee and who isn t. This would give rights to the asylum seeker and safeguard the state.
Because recent guidelines issued to immigration officials regarding asylum seekers are ad-hoc and non-statutory, we haven t seen them, she complains. There s a democratic issue about them being open and transparent, so that legal advisors can know what was going on. We also want the resources promised by the Minister for Finance to the Department of Justice for the asylum section staff and building. We want to see that speeded up: at the moment people are waiting to hear about their first interview on their asylum application.
Furthermore, the bulk of the immigrants awaiting decisions do not have satisfactory legal aid. Only those who have gone through the system, been refused, had their appeals refused and are now making representations to the Minister on humanitarian grounds, are in a position to avail of solicitors paid for by the state.
Frank Buckley s requests for support from the government for his Soccer Against Racism projects have been met with such an absurd degree of red tape and political runaround that he is seriously considering turning the reams of official correspondence into an art exhibition. Meanwhile, the 3,500 await their fate. Many of them are reluctant to talk to the press out of fear of endangering their cases, and of the consequences of what would happen if they were deported.
A spokesperson for the Refugee Council echoes the findings of many in the media, saying: It s not always easy to find people who want to speak out because they re concerned for their families back home, as well as their own situation.