Ireland’s asylum reforms harm children and families, bishops warn

The Act aims to reform Irish asylum laws and implement the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact.

Bishop Alan McGuckian, Chair of the Irish Bishops’ Council for Migrants and Refugees, has expressed “serious concern” over Ireland’s new International Protection Act which was signed into law last week.

In a statement, the Bishop of Down and Connor said the Bishops’ Council “deeply regret that the International Protection Act provides for the detention of children”, even if this is only in exceptional circumstances and as a measure of last resort. 

“Our Council’s position accords with that of UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency – in that children should not be detained for immigration-related reasons as per human rights law,” he said.

The Council also had “serious reservations” about the Act’s controversial new family reunification restrictions. These introduce a two-year waiting period before beneficiaries of international protection can apply for reunification with family members.

According to Bishop McGuckian, the measures are “anti-family”: “It is neither fair, nor just, to significantly restrict the ability of refugees – persons granted protection by the Irish State – to be reunited with their loved ones.”

The act legislates for the introduction of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration into Irish law.

The Bishops’ Council noted that the Irish Government’s mantra in adopting the Pact is that it is a “firm but fair” approach to addressing the challenges of managing migration and asylum in Ireland, but expressed “grave concerns” that the new law is overwhelmingly “weighted towards firmness at the cost of fairness”. 

The legislation limits access to oral appeals, introduces restrictions on the freedom of movement of applicants, and it enhances Garda/police powers of arrest and detention. 

“There is a lack of clarity around procedural safeguards in age assessments and protections for vulnerable applicants in the asylum border procedure,” the bishops highlighted.

While asylum seeker advocates have called for many years for authorities to speed up case processing and eliminate lengthy delays in determining applications for international protection, the Bishops’ Council for Migrant and Refugees believes that this should not be at the expense of due process. 

“There has been significant confusion around the operation of essential legal counselling in the new international protection legislation,” Bishop McGuckian said. “Our Council urges adequate resourcing of the Legal Aid Board to ensure timely access to legal counselling and representation in asylum procedures when the EU Pact commences in June.”

President Catherine Connolly convened a meeting of her Council of State last week to examine the new Bill and determine whether the president should refer it to the Supreme Court or sign it into law.

Following the meeting, President Connolly decided not to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court and signed it into law.

But a spokesperson for the President said later, “The concerns that led to the President calling a meeting of the Council of State remain.”

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