Call for asylum system shake-up

The current system for accommodating asylum seekers puts their basic human rights at risk and should be scrapped, campaigners have said.

But the Free Legal Advice Centre (Flac) said the system had failed to provide many of those seeking refuge with adequate funds, food and living standards.

At its One Size Doesn't Fit All report launch in Dublin, the group called for the abolition or radical reform of the policy and a major hike in the weekly allowance for applicants.

There are currently around 6,640 people living in direct provision.

http://www.herald.ie/breaking-news/national-news/call-for-asylum-system-shakeup-2070144.html

Nigerian 'king' lost Tesco job because of regal duty

A Nigerian king-in-waiting who was fired after he overstayed a Tesco time-off deal for regal duties in his home village has been awarded €10,000 compensation for unfair dismissal.

Mr Agbaje, who said he is now a taxi driver taking home €31 a week after expenses, had started work with Tesco in May 2006. Speaking at his home in Co Offaly yesterday, Mr Agbaje expressed disappointment at the level of the tribunal settlement.

As he comes from royal lineage, Mr Agbaje had been required to carry out ceremonies in his native village in preparation for his ascendancy to the throne.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/nigerian-king-lost-tesco-job-because-of-regal-duty-2066348.html

Immigrants unable to renew permits over admin blunder

THOUSANDS of immigrants are terrified they could yet lose their eligibility for citizenship after they found themselves unable to renew their residency permits over the past six weeks.

Parents of Irish-born children, who have to renew these permits every three years. were being turned away by gardaí this year even though INIS had taken advertisements in newspapers last December saying that GNIB and local immigration offices were now taking charge of processing the permits. Up to 17,000 immigrants have this IBC/05 status due to their children’s Irish birth.

Such immigrants cannot legally work in this country without an up-to-date permit and the Immigrant Council of Ireland say several have contacted them to say they have lost their jobs over a lack of up-to-date documentation.

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/immigrants-unable-to-renew-permits-over-admin-blunder-112181.html#ixzz0fd3tigQ9

Libyan teen sentenced for threat

A Libyan teenager who threatened to follow an employee of the Refugee Reception and Integration Office home and burn down her house after his request for accommodation was refused has been given a partly suspended sentence.

Hisham Ali Saad (aged 19) became frustrated and overwhelmed at the asylum system following his arrival in Ireland alone in 2008 after his brother was shot dead during an anti-Gadaffi protest in Libya.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/libyan-teen-sentenced-for-threat-445321.html#ixzz0eyRuVnxF

Official IRA decommissions

A second republican paramilitary group in the North announced today that it had decommissioned its weapons.

The so-called Official IRA, a relatively small organisation most active in the 1970s, confirmed it had destroyed its guns.

The declaration was made at a Belfast press conference which came only two hours after a separate republican splinter group, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), confirmed it had disarmed.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/official-ira-also-decommissions-445317.html#ixzz0eyQQXAjz

INLA decommissioning confirmed

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) confirmed announced today that it has decommissioned its weapons.

The republican paramilitary group, believed to have been responsible for the deaths of more than 100 people during the Troubles, confirmed it has disposed of its illegal arsenal in recent weeks through the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/inla-decommissioning-confirmed-445278.html#ixzz0eyPyuybW

Pole gets five life sentences for rape

A 45-year-old man, who raped a woman after tying her boyfriend up with rope and duct-tape, has been given five life sentences at the Central Criminal Court.

Edward Piotrowski, who is from Poland, but has an address at Clonmullen Hall, Edenderry, Co Offaly, told his victim during the two-and-a-half-hour ordeal that he would kill her and her partner.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0129/piotrowskie.html

Immigrant involvement in prostitution

The millions flowing out of the country through foreign prostitution rackets have been revealed in a garda investigation into a Chinese prostitute who transferred more than a million euro to China over the past two years.

Almost the entire sex industry in Ireland relies on mobile phone contact and internet advertising and involves foreign nationals, most of whom are transferring their money out of the country.

The busiest internet site, Escorts Ireland, advertises hundreds of phone contacts, at least 230 of which are in Dublin. And the majority of prostitution rings in Ireland involve foreign nationals.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/madam-of-brothel-sent-83641m-abroad-in-two-years-2052063.html

Cost of deportations

THE deportation of a single asylum-seeker cost more than €35,000, the Department of Justice has confirmed.

The man was one of 193 asylum-seekers removed from the state in the first nine months of last year at a total cost of €520,925.

The average cost of deporting failed asylum-seekers is now in the region of €2,700 although that does not include the cost of garda overtime and subsistence.

According to the Department of Justice, a total of €927,091 was spent on deportations in 2008, primarily to Africa and eastern Europe.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/feb/07/deporting-one-asylum-seeker-cost-35000/

'Nigerian mother Izevbekhai's document is another forgery'

THE state will claim in the Supreme Court this week that the latest documentation supplied to the court by a Nigerian woman claiming her daughter died from female genital mutilation (FGM) is another forgery, the Sunday Tribune can reveal.

Mother-of-two Pamela Izevbekhai has enlisted a new lawyer to represent her in the Supreme Court on Thursday in a bid to prevent the deportation of her family.

The tab the taxpayer has picked up for Izevbekhai's case has surpassed €1m

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/feb/07/nigerian-mother-izevbekhais-document-is-another-fo/

Only a quarter of deportation orders carried out

ONLY a quarter of deportation orders issued last year were actually carried out, figures from the department of Justice have revealed.

In 2009, Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern signed 939 deportation orders, but only 236 were carried out.

Looking at the figures over five years shows that between 2003 and 2008, only 2,431 of 8,960 deportation orders issued were implemented.

The Department of Justice admitted it did not know how many of these people were still here.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/only-a-quarter-of-deportation-orders-carried-out-111493.html#ixzz0emeHhpSG

Muslim group urges acceptance of niqab

THE IRISH Council of Imams, a group which represents Muslims living in Ireland, has spoken out against attempts to ban the niqab elsewhere in Europe and called on members of the religion to contribute positively to the societies in which they are living.

The council said that a ban on the niqab – a veil worn by Muslim women that covers everything except the eyes – violates personal freedoms guaranteed by democratic systems.

It added that such bans also constitute an obstacle to multiculturalism, integration and human rights.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0206/1224263887684.html

Immigrants on the dole

One in three people signing on last month was an immigrant worker.

An extra 3,876 foreigners joined the live register in January compared with 9,465 Irish people, the new Central Statistics Office figures show.

Some 18.6pc of the 437,000 on the live register are now non-Irish nationals, a total of 81,395, though they comprise just 14.7pc of the workforce.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/downturn-hits-foreign-workers-hardest-2051114.html

Three illegal workers arrested in NI

Three suspected illegal workers have been arrested in Northern Ireland.

Two Indians and one Bangladeshi man were detained following a house search in Newry, Co Down.

The two Indians had overstayed their visit visas and were arrested as they tried to escape through the back garden of the house. The Bangladeshi man had a fraudulently obtained UK passport.

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/three-illegal-workers-arrested-2049125.html

Ill Nigerian girl spared deportation

A seriously-ill Nigerian girl has been spared deportation tonight when officials agreed to review her family's case.

The Department of Justice confirmed that Ayodola Adekunle (5) and her family were granted a last-minute reprieve after her legal team intervened.

She suffers from sickle-cell anaemia and had her spleen removed more than a year ago, leaving her susceptible to infections and malaria.

The family - who have exhausted all legal channels of the asylum process - were due to be deported tonight.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0203/breaking77.htm

Trafficking of children 'is a reality'

A LEADING children's charity has called on health service bosses to recognise the "reality" of child trafficking in Ireland.

Concerns were raised after figures showed more than 500 unaccompanied children seeking asylum vanished while in the care of the State over the past 10 years.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/trafficking-of-children-is-a-reality-2043516.html

Asylum seekers' residence under investigation

THE HIGH Court has been told that allegations by a man about the operation of an asylum seekers’ residence are the subject of a Garda investigation.

The allegations include a claim that the manager of Richmond Court Accommodation Centre in Longford, Fine Gael councillor James Keogh, had paid money and made promises to residents there in return for their votes in last year’s local elections.

He also made formal complaints about “inedible” food at the centre, gathering signatures from 22 others and said people had become ill after eating.

There was no security at the centre and a member of staff had adopted a consistently hostile attitude towards him, he said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0126/1224263119387.html

Man guilty of holding two false passports

A PAKISTANI man (27) was yesterday convicted of possessing two false passports after being arrested as part of a Garda operation targeting alleged marriages of convenience.

Gardaí have also objected to his wedding going ahead under the Civil Registration Act. He was due to get married in Letterkenny, Co Donegal on Thursday.

Muhammad Shafi, College View Apartments, Ballymun, appeared before Judge Hugh O’Donnell at Blanchardstown District Court in Dublin.

Shafi’s conviction follows a major investigation launched by immigration officers into “sham marriages” in the Republic.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0126/1224263119350.html

Each bid to deport asylum seekers to go to court - judge

A NIGERIAN woman’s successful Supreme Court case will in practice ensure every attempt to deport a failed asylum seeker will end in the courts, “which are already swamped by such cases”, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman said.

Asylum cases represent more than half of judicial review cases, and the majority decision in favour of Abosede Oluwatoyin Meadows, who claims risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) if deported, would make seeking judicial review “much easier”, he said. In his 100-page dissenting judgment, he said the case represented “a major revolution in our immigration arrangements” and administrative law.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0122/1224262844046.html

Haiti victims should be allowed settle here, says FG

VICTIMS of the Haitian earthquake should be allowed to re-settle in Ireland, Fine Gael yesterday urged

The party’s overseas aid spokesman Billy Timmins said a glut of empty properties across the country could be used to house survivors of the disaster that is estimated to have left 200,000 people dead and 3 million displaced in the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/victims-should-be-allowed-settle-here-says-fg-110249.html#ixzz0dNu67azx

Irish far right groups remain on the margins of political life

Although those charged in connection with the string of attacks and the distribution of racist leaflets – which allegedly originated with the British Combat 18 far right group – have been teenagers, the campaign is believed to have been supported by former Loyalist paramilitaries.

Racist incidents in Europe and Britain are often connected to far right groups and their more respectable political organisations have undoubtedly in recent years been making electoral gains. No openly racist or fascistic organisation has garnered serious electoral support in either part of Ireland, however.

The only exception is Ailtiri na hAiseirghe, which won nine seats in the June 1945 elections in the Republic. But in recent years, the country’s changing social make-up has seen right-wing anti-immigrant elements attempting to take political advantage.

Former Northern Irish IRA prisoner, Gerry McGeough, attempted to politically organise around anti-immigrant sentiment in conjunction with former Youth Defence leader, Justin Barrett.

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/irish-far-right-groups-remain-on-the-margins-of-political-life-109464.html#ixzz0cQYhDcWF

Migrants from new EU states 'denied welfare'

INCREASING NUMBERS of migrant workers from new EU states are being unfairly denied access to social welfare payments because residency rules are applied inconsistently, a charity has claimed.

The charity issued the warning as new figures showed the Government spent €151,863 on flights to repatriate 663 EU nationals who became destitute last year.

Some 394 Romanians and 93 Poles were sent home under the repatriation scheme for destitute EU-12 nationals, which was introduced by the Government for EU nationals who are not entitled to access social welfare payments.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0111/1224262053852.html

Gardaí accused of racial discrimination

GARDAÍ have been accused of racial discrimination following the release of EU research which found Sub-Saharan Africans are twice as likely to be subjected to police stops than other members of the public.

The European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey found in a 12-month period 59% of Africans surveyed had been stopped at least once by gardaí. One in three eastern Europeans were stopped at least once in the same period. More than 1,000 Sub-Saharan Africans and eastern Europeans were surveyed.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gardai-accused-of-racial-discrimination-109427.html#ixzz0cKCwZRST

Deportation rate doubles for failed asylum seekers

THE deportation rate for failed asylum seekers almost doubled in the past year, new figures show.

This resulted in a total of 236 deportations to non-EU countries in 2009, compared with 129 in the previous year.

Figures published officially today also show that an additional 202 failed asylum seekers, who would otherwise have been removed from the State, opted for help in returning home voluntarily.

And another 243 asylum applicants were transferred to other European states after being caught "asylum shopping", where they seek status as a refugee in two or more countries.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/deportation-rate-doubles-for-failed-asylum-seekers-2004667.html

Call for action on asylum ‘mess’

The number of asylum applications received by the Department of Justice in 2009 fell by 35% when compared with 2008. But funding for the asylum and immigration service during the same period was up by 16%.

Fine Gael Immigration and Integration spokesman Denis Naughten said, "We need a determined approach to deal with the present mess and I’m calling on the minister for justice to prioritise this area in the interests of the taxpayer. By streamlining the existing asylum system, treating people with dignity and in a timely manner, we could save the taxpayer a small fortune."

Mr Naughten said, "The additional costs associated with asylum accommodation in 2009 ran at €50,000 a day more than originally projected; this is on top of a cost over-run in 2008 of €40,000 a day".

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/call-for-action-on-asylum-mess-108995.html