Mags GarganA report from a Government-appointed working group to identify improvements to the Direct Provision system for asylum-seekers and refugees has received a mixed response.
The report from the Working Group on the Protection Process, which was released on Tuesday, proposes that new asylum seekers should have the right to work after nine months of seeking refugee status, the granting of residency to those living in direct provision for five years or more, increased private living space and greater access to third level education
The 10-member working group, chaired by Mr Justice Bryan MacMahon, included two religious organisations, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and Spirasi, a group set up by the Spiritans to support survivors of torture.
Eugene Quinn, JRS Ireland National Director, has called on the Government to fully implement the recommendation as soon as possible. “Thousands of men, women and children have been ‘living in limbo’ with their lives on hold in the asylum system for too long. The long stayer solution recommended for persons more than five years in the system must be prioritised and delivered quickly to end their long wait,” he said.
The parish priest of Portlaoise, who has spoken out against the living conditions in direct provision, said his initial reaction was disappointment that the system would continue.
“My concerns about children living in the system have not gone away. The centres are an unhealthy place for a child to be brought up,” Msgr John Byrne told The Irish Catholic.
“Five years is still a long time out of a child’s life, but it is better than 8 or 10 years as we have now. Obviously I am not naive enough to think there will be no complications in the whole asylum seeker system, at the same time we cannot turn a blind eye to the great tragedy of human beings being treated in an inhumane way. We surely are able to do better than that.”