“With a warm welcome and good craic guaranteed, a stay in Ireland lets you discover an island of contrasts…”
Tourism
Ireland’s catchphrase sounds promising. It’s not
everyone’s luxury to choose Ireland for a holiday though. Some reach
the Irish
shores looking for a rather special escape; an escape from persecution.
‘Ali’ arrived in Ireland from his native Iran in 2005 seeking protection. It took him four years to be granted refugee status, which meant four years living as an ‘asylum seeker’ under ‘direct provision’.
That means he received a weekly allowance of €19.10, was not allowed to work or study, and had no guarantee that he could plan a future here. “You miss your family, your country… and you have to adapt to a new way of life, a new culture, a new language. You feel like a newborn, you have to start from scratch,” Ali says.
“They come to Ireland seeking protection and instead they find themselves not heard and often at risk of exploitation,” says Monica Anne Brennan, chairperson of AkiDwA, a national network of African and migrant women living in Ireland.
“They are living for years and years in limbo,” she adds. While their application is being processed, asylum seekers are dispersed to accommodation centres throughout the country.
Salome Mbugua, AkiDwA’s National Director, compiled the accounts of 121 women living in 10 different centres. The study quotes a woman awaiting decisions on her asylum application:
“At least as a prisoner you know when you are getting out – not when you are an asylum seeker.”
According to the report, most asylum seekers have to wait a minimum of two years for their claim to be processed in Ireland, some waiting for up to six years. As of December 2009, 6482 people were living under direct provision within 52 accommodation centres, which are run by private management.
The report tells of residents being sexually harassed, abused by management, discriminated against due to race and gender, and facing enormous difficulties raising their children. AkiDwA calls on the Government for an independent audit of its direct provision policy. Among reforms needed are mandatory training and Garda vetting for centres’ staff, along with the creation of a transparent, independent and confidential complaints mechanism.
Ali describes his experience of living in rural Ireland as a ‘culture shock’. The support network being more accessible in a big city, many dispersed asylum seekers find themselves isolated, lacking information about the legal system and the culture they have to engage with. Asylum seekers face further obstacles to integration.
“People need to engage but they find themselves excluded from mainstream society. They are not entitled to third level education or temporary work permit. Many asylum seekers would have fantastic skills.
“People who stand up for democracy and human rights in their home country are often the bravest, they should be seen an asset for our country,” says Roisin Boyd, Head of Communications of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC).
Instead, asylum seekers are confronted with what has been called the ‘culture of disbelief’.
“From the very beginning, when you lodge your application, you have to prove that you’re not lying. You feel like you have to convince people that you’re telling the truth,” Ali says.
“On the initial interview, it’s just you, an interpreter and the interviewer. You have to open up without legal representation and confide your story to someone who might only be catching an interpretation of what you’re saying. The interview is not even recorded,” he explains. Some people have been through terrible trauma and might not be able to speak about what happened.
“Sometimes it takes years for the real story to come out,” said Ruth MacNealy, director of the Mayo Rape Crisis Centre, speaking at the launch of AkiDwA’s report.
“The lack of protection and the culture of disbelief have consequent implications for asylum seekers’ mental health, which can affect their capacity to present their case. They are caught into a vicious circle within this system prolonged over years,” said Irish Human Rights Commissioner Rosemary Byrne, who launched AkiDwA’s report. “You work with people, they are alive, they are angry… and over time you watch the light go out,” says Ruth MacNealy.
The EU Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg, visited Ireland in 2007. He called for appropriate accommodation and temporary work permits. According to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), “huge differences exist between national asylum systems in Europe, making the asylum system a ‘lottery’ for refugees.”
EU countries are currently working to develop and establish a Common European Asylum System (CEAS).
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Irish direct provision and dispersal system, legal rights groups, in conjunction with the IRC and The Integration and Social Inclusion Centre of Ireland (ISICI), also launched a report in February this year. Entitled One Size Doesn’t Fit All, the report highlights the system's failure to measure up under human rights law.
Ali works now in raising awareness on asylum and refugees issues. He is among many who call for an urgent change and a full-scale reform to ensure asylum seekers’ human rights are respected.
Salome Mbugua asks: “Allowing people to work, access education, integrate and live with dignity… is this so much to ask?”
celia.bs@hotmail.fr