improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI

improving
government
service
delivery
to minority
ethnic groups
Chapter 4: Ireland Research Findings 110_111
206_The granting of leave
to remain to the parents
of Irish-born children is
not unconditional and
permanent and will be
subject to an initial review
after a period of two years.
207_Also refer to the
Context Chapter: Situation
of Minority Ethnic Groups.
208_Pavee Point Travellers
Centre (2005), Irish
Travellers Shadow Report
to the Committee on
the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, p.18.
209_www.paveepoint.ie/
pav_culture_a.html
210_First Progress Report
of the Committee to
Monitor and Co-Ordinate
the Implementation of the
Recommendations of the
Task Force on the Travelling
Community (2000),
available at:
www.justice.ie/
80256E010039C5AF/
vWeb/pcJUSQ5ZCBRV-en
Second Progress Report
Of the Committee to
Monitor and Co-Ordinate
the Implementation of the
Recommendations of the
Task Force on the Travelling
Community (2005),
available at:
www.justice.ie/
80256E010039C5AF/
vWeb/pcJUSQ6K2L2B-en
211_Committee on the
Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (2005),
Concluding observations
of the Committee on
the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, Ireland, UN
Doc CERD/C/IRL/CO/2.
14 April 2005.
Asylum seekers and refugees
Apart from the dramatic increase in labour migration from EU and non-EU countries between 1995 and 2004,
there was also an increase in asylum seekers. From a low of 39 applicants in 1992 the number seeking asylum
grew to 11,634 in 2002. Following the world-wide fall in asylum-seeking numbers, the 2004 Citizenship
Referendum, the adoption of a fast-track system for the processing of asylum claims from so-called safe third
countries and the introduction of carrier sanctions (which had the effect of making it much more difficult for
would-be asylum seekers to reach Ireland) applicant numbers fell dramatically to 4,304 in 2005. The number of
applications for the first three months of 2006 was 1,135.
By the end of 2005, a total of 6,814 persons had been granted full refugee status since 2000; the largest
communities were Nigerian and Romanian. This compares with a total of 48,632 applications processed since
20 November 2000. In addition, there were 1,985 applications for family reunion between 2000 and March
2006, for a total of 4,504 dependents, of which 3,822 have already been processed. 16,727 persons were
granted leave to remain under a special application process for the parents of Irish-born children put in place
after the Supreme Court 2003 Lobe and Osayande cases overturned the status quo ante whereby the majority
of parents of Irish-born children acquired indefinite residence rights. 206 Currently, therefore, there are at least
27,000 persons legally resident in Ireland who originally arrived as asylum seekers or who were granted entry as
family members. They now constitute a significant range of diverse ethnic communities, further augmented by
the several thousand children born since their arrival in Ireland. Many of the estimated 167 languages spoken
nowadays in Ireland are in use among members of these communities.
Travellers 207
The census identified that the Traveller population in Ireland was around 24,000, representing 0.6% of the
population of Ireland, although NGOs feel that the true figure is closer to 30,000. 208 Travellers are an indigenous
minority, documented as being part of Irish society for centuries. Travellers have a long shared history and value
system which make them a distinct group; they also have their own language, customs and traditions. 209
Service provision to Travellers has been influenced by the 341 recommendations of the Task Force on the
Travelling Community, published in 1995. The Task Force recommended that a formal monitoring mechanism
should be put in place to co-ordinate, oversee and progress the implementation process. A Committee was
put in place; and has published two progress reports; 210 however without having seen full implementation of
the recommendations, it appears that emphasis has shifted from this Committee to the High Level Officials
Group on Traveller issues, which does not include any Traveller representation. The serious issues in relation
to service provision to Travellers in Ireland were recognised in the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination’s (CERD) Concluding Observations in 2005. 211
Students
Students are not usually regarded as ‘immigrants’ in the classic sense. But recent years have seen a dramatic
growth in the numbers of international students in the Irish education system. A survey by Education Ireland
records a total of 22,947 non-Irish students registered in participating Higher Education Institutions in Ireland
during the 2004-2005 academic year, 14,106 of whom are from non-EU countries. This figure does not include
the much larger number of students enrolled in private language schools. In the case of the Chinese community
alone, estimates of the number of Chinese students in Ireland vary from 13,000 to 60,000 or even more.