Migrant workers suffering "overt racism" from within the system

MIGRANT workers who become homeless experience "overt racism" from within the system and are not being provided with sufficient translation services, according to a homeless charity.

Crosscare officer Wayne Stanley said migrant workers were facing discrimination and being told they are not entitled to any welfare payments when they might be, and in some cases people have not been provided with translation services and so were not fully aware of what was required.

He said latest figures from the charity’s Amien Street service showed that more than 30% of new clients presenting in the first four months of this year were not Irish.

http://irishexaminer.com/ireland/migrant-workers-unaware-of-rights-123702.html#ixzz0sGZnDcmg

Loyalist speaks up for migrants

Migrant workers are a benefit to Northern Ireland's society and should be protected from racists, a leading loyalist has claimed.
Former Progressive Unionist Party leader Dawn Purvis spoke out in defence of minorities who have come under sporadic attack in parts of the province.

She said: "I want to be clear - migrant workers are here, they are here to stay and they are an important and positive part of not only our economy, but of our community.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/loyalist-speaks-up-for-migrants-14857137.html

Gardaí to crack down on arranged marriages

GARDAí are hoping to utilise little-used laws on bigamy in an attempt to crack down on arranged marriage rackets that have become rife.

Gardaí are still involved in a lengthy investigation called Operation Charity, which specifically targeted marriages between Pakistani men and Eastern European women in Ireland.

So far, nine people have been arrested in connection with their enquiries, five of whom were evading deportation at the time.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/jun/27/gardai-to-crack-down-on-arranged-marriages/

Warning recession may raise racist tensions

IRELAND’S FALL into recession could lead to more tensions between immigrants and the native Irish population, the Irish committee of the European Cultural Foundation has warned.

Its chairwoman, Mary Canning, said instances of deaths associated with racism were not common but “there is a worry that perhaps there could be more issues of tension, particularly at local level”.

“People are in danger of becoming ghettoised, either in their housing or in their access to education or to health services.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0624/1224273185893.html

Asylum rate near lowest in Europe

ASYLUM seekers are less likely to be granted refugee status or other form of protection in Ireland than almost anywhere else in Europe, according to new EU figures.

The report shows that Ireland has one of the worst records in the EU for granting asylum to refugees. Just 4% of asylum seekers here were granted protection last year – the second lowest rate of any of the 27 EU countries. Only Greece has a poorer record, with just 1% of applicants being granted asylum there.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/asylum-rate-near-lowest-in-europe-122993.html#ixzz0rWVHE22e

Asylum seeker jailed for welfare fraud

A failed asylum seeker assumed the identity of a dead woman to secure work and claim over €18,000 worth of social welfare payments in Limerick.

Izabel Zuwa from Nigeria and with an address at Crossley House, Dock Road, Limerick has been jailed for 6 months at Limerick District Court.

http://www.live95fm.ie/news/news-item.aspx?arti_guid=3877912a-212a-4076-a2dd-e49cc8018a34

Polish national jailed for stabbing

A POLISH man has received a six-year prison sentence after being convicted of the manslaughter of his lover's husband last year.

Michal Skotak (32) was stabbed in a row following a First Holy Communion celebration for his adopted child on May 16 last year.

Yesterday, Michal Kurowski (29), of Old Gallows Field, Tralee, Co Kerry, was sentenced after he had been convicted of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin. The jury reached its verdict by a 10-1 majority.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/man-jailed-for-killing-lovers-husband-2227326.html

Investigation finds migrant workers face discrimination

A formal investigation into the role of the recruitment sector in the employment of migrant workers in Northern Ireland has found non-nationals are being discriminated against.

Those findings include:

•Participants encountered barriers to equality of opportunity for those using the recruitment sector.
•Irregularity of work.
•Large amounts of money being paid in their native countries to find work which was not as expected.
•Poor employment practices.
•Securing predominantly low paid work.
•Difficulties in having qualifications gained outside the UK recognised by employers.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/investigation-finds-migrant-workers-face-discrimination-14842879.html#ixzz0rJJB2pBw

Concern over refusal of refugees

THE Irish Refugee Council said a study needed to be carried out to see why Ireland accepted so few asylum seekers, writes Shane Hickey.

It said just 4pc of those who applied here for refugee status here were given the go-ahead.

Yesterday, the agency marked World Refugee Day with a number of events in Dublin.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/concern-over-refusal-of-refugees-2227342.html

Criticism over lack of privacy for asylum seekers

Asylum seekers living in hostels for several years are facing significant mental stress

PERPETUA LOST her twins last month. She was six months pregnant when she miscarried, and believes the stress of living at the Eglinton Hotel – a 235-bed hostel for asylum seekers in Galway – contributed to the death of her boys.

“I was living in a small room with my five-year-old daughter, another mother, and her 1½-year-old son. It was impossible to get any sleep or rest. The young boy would often wake us up, or the television was left on. It was very tiring,” she claims.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0618/1224272794047.html

Bloody Sunday down to soldiers 'losing their self control'

The report into the Bloody Sunday killings in 1972 has been published by the British Government.

The most expensive and longest-running inquiry in British history has found that the events in Derry on 30 January 1972 were 'unjustified and unjustifiable' and that all those killed were innocent victims.

The inquiry said the casualties were down to the soldiers 'losing their self control'.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0615/savillereport.html

Number of migrants voting in local elections rises 44%

THERE WAS a 44 per cent increase in the number of immigrants who voted in last year’s local elections, following a campaign which encouraged more immigrants to register and vote.

The campaign, by the Africa Centre and the New Communities Partnership, aimed to encourage 10,0000 more immigrants in 10 local authority areas to get involved in the June elections. An additional 15,681 immigrants registered and voted in those 10 areas.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0616/1224272616926.html

Missing minors traced to Chinese restaurateur

GardaÍ are to recommend a wealthy Chinese restaurateur be charged with the trafficking of several Chinese children who disappeared from state care at accommodation hostels for unaccompanied boys and girls in the past few years.

Detectives in Dublin launched an investigation last year into the businessman's involvement in the disappearance of 34 unaccompanied Chinese minors whom gardaí suspect were trafficked into Ireland to work in the sex and labour industry.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/jun/13/missing-minors-traced-to-chinese-restaurateur/

Social welfare refused 9,000 bogus claims last year

MORE than 9,000 people were refused social welfare payments last year after it was deemed they were not habitually resident in Ireland.

Thousands of apparently bogus claims had been filed with the Department of Social and Family Affairs, according to figures, which are showing a vast increase in the number of failed applications.

According to the department, 9,200 people sought welfare last year who were subsequently deemed not to be permanently resident in the country.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/jun/13/social-welfare-refused-9000-bogus-claims-last-year/

Romanian accused of stealing €1,100 from diners' cloned cards

A WAITER who copied the Laser card details of two customers in a restaurant where he worked spent €1,100 on their cards, it has been claimed.

Andrei Nechifor (29) is alleged to have used the copy Laser cards to buy groceries, to get cashback, and to take money out of ATMs.

In all, it is alleged that Nechifor stole €1,150.72 from the victims' accounts over a five- day period.

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/courts/waiter-accused-of-stealing-83641100-from-diners-cloned-cards-2215056.html

Women cursed to life of slavery

OVER the last five years, one province in Nigeria has consistently cropped up when Ireland’s human trafficking problem is being addressed.

Up to 100,000 of Europe’s 500,000 trafficking victims have been brought from the west African country and of those, anywhere between 60%-80% originate from the Edo state.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/women-cursed-to-life-of-slavery-121875.html

Foreigners trafficked to Ireland

"GIRLS in their early teens are being trafficked to Northern Ireland and forced into prostitution and servitude right under our noses."

That was the stark admission, not of an anti-prostitution campaigner or women’s rights activist, but of the assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and it was made during a Stormont Public Accounts Committee meeting last month.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/for-sale-121874.html

€35m bill for non-resident benefits

Immigrants who have returned to mainly eastern European countries are claiming their entitlement to around €35m a year in social welfare payments here, figures released to the Sunday Independent reveal.

The Department of Social Protection is obliged to pay just over €15m a year in Jobseeker's Benefit and a further €20m a year in Child Benefit to immigrants who no longer live in Ireland.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/836435m-bill-for-benefits-wide-open-to-fraud-2209858.html

Migrant workers stage Dublin protest

A demonstration was held in Dublin today over the right of migrant workers to change their employer.

Up to 200 workers, banging drums, blowing whistles and carrying placards reading "work permit = licence to exploit", took part in the march outside the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.

The MRCI said the current system means that migrant workers are unable to leave exploitative working conditions because of the rigid and inflexible employment permits system.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0602/breaking52.html

Israel kidnaps Irish citizens

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has accused Israel of kidnapping up to eight Irish citizens and breaking international law by refusing diplomats access to them.

Six confirmed Irish passport holders were threatened with internment at the Be’er Sheva detention camp unless they signed deportation agreements with Israeli. They were aboard the aid flotilla stormed by Israeli commandos which left at least nine people dead.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kidnapped-121258.html