AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

safeguards when threatened with and during
evictions.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child raised concerns over structural
discrimination against Traveller and Roma
children, including in their access to
education, health and an adequate standard
of living.
Sex workers
A government bill which proposed to
criminalize the purchase of sex, fails to take
adequate account of sex workers’ needs and
views or international evidence that
criminalization increases their isolation and
marginalization, and violates their safety and
human rights. The bill did not fully
decriminalize sex workers but maintained
and even increased penalties for brothelkeeping
and loitering offences that are
frequently used against sex workers.
REFUGEES’ AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS’
RIGHTS
Provisions in 2015 legislation which
established a single procedure for dealing
with both claims for refugee status and other
forms of protection came into force on 31
December.
Concerns remained about the poor living
conditions in “direct provision”
accommodation centres for asylum-seekers
and the slow implementation of
recommendations for improvement set out in
a government-established working group’s
2015 report. Concerns highlighted by the
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,
included inadequate child protection
services, access to education, and
inappropriate clothing and food.
Resettlement and relocation
The Department of Justice and Equality
confirmed that by the end of the year, only
240 of the 2,622 asylum-seekers agreed for
relocation from the EU in 2015 had arrived in
Ireland; 519 of 520 Syrian refugees agreed
for resettlement from the Middle East,
however, had arrived. In July, Ireland
undertook to resettle another 260 refugees
from Lebanon.
National security deportation
In July, the authorities deported a man to
Jordan, deeming him a national security
threat for allegedly organizing and facilitating
travel of people to join the armed group
Islamic State (IS). He faced the risk of torture
and other ill-treatment in Jordan. His
applications to the Irish courts and the
European Court of Human Rights to prevent
his deportation were unsuccessful. 1
1. Ireland: Deportation to Jordan would risk backsliding on absolute ban
on torture (News story, 6 July)
ISRAEL AND THE
OCCUPIED
PALESTINIAN
TERRITORIES
State of Israel
Head of state: Reuven Rivlin
Head of government: Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli forces unlawfully killed Palestinian
civilians, including children, in both Israel
and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
(OPT), and detained thousands of
Palestinians from the OPT who opposed
Israel’s continuing military occupation,
holding hundreds in administrative
detention. Torture and other ill-treatment of
detainees remained rife and was committed
with impunity. The authorities continued to
promote illegal settlements in the West
Bank, including by attempting to
retroactively “legalize” settlements built on
private Palestinian land, and severely
restricted Palestinians’ freedom of
movement, closing some areas after attacks
by Palestinians on Israelis. Israeli forces
continued to blockade the Gaza Strip,
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