2014-04-22 - Socio Economic Review 2014 - Full text and cover - FINAL

Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Until recently, the number of refugees forced to flee from their own countries in
order to escape war, persecution and abuses of human rights had been declining
worldwide over a number of years. In its most recent reports, however, the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) signalled a sizeable reversal of this
trend. In 2012 alone, 7.6 million people were newly displaced due to conflict or
persecution (UNHCR, 2013a: 2). At the end of 2012 the total population of concern
to UNHCR was estimated at 35.8 million people, including: 10.5 million refugees;
928,226 asylum seekers; 525,941 refugees who had been repatriated in 2012 (almost
double the 2010 figure); 17.6 million internally displaced persons; and an estimated
number of 3.3 million stateless people worldwide (UNHCR, 2013b: 73). There were
4.9 million Palestinians refugees registered with the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Irish people have had a long tradition of solidarity with people facing oppression
within their own countries, but that tradition is not reflected in our policies towards
refugees and asylum-seekers. Social Justice Ireland believes that Ireland should use its
position in international forums to highlight the causes of displacement of peoples.
In particular, Ireland should use these forums to challenge the production, sale and
free access to arms and the implements of torture.
Despite this tradition of solidarity with peoples facing oppression, racism is an
everyday reality for many migrants in Ireland. Preliminary figures from the
Immigrant Council of Ireland show an 85 per cent increase in the number of racist
incidences reported in 2013 with the majority of cases occurring in a person’s local
community or workplace 74 . This increase in reported racism is very worrying and
Social Justice Ireland urges Government to provide leadership in dealing with the
issue. An integrated policy response is needed to address the root causes of racism
within communities; political and institutional responses are required to address
this problem in order to prevent it deteriorating. The establishment of Citizenship
Ceremonies by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence and the reforms to the
procedure of assessing and processing citizenship applications are welcome and
have the potential to promote inclusiveness and integration.
Table 10.2 shows the number of applications for asylum in Ireland between 2000
and 2012. In 2012 Ireland experienced a small reduction in applications, reflecting
a consistent decrease in applications. In 2012, there were 319,185 applicants for
asylum in the European Union; the top two single largest nation of origin for
applicants were Afghanistan and Syria, reflecting the terrible situations in those
countries (Eurostat, 2013). Almost 2,250 people were deported from Ireland in 2012,
of whom 1,890 were refused entry into the country at ports of entry (Department
of Justice and Equality, 2014).
74
http://www.immigrantcouncil.ie/media/press-releases/775-85-in-racist-incidents
204 Socio-Economic Review 2014