Irish asylum seeker policy and the direct provision system

Irish Social Policy

The global recession came along with many negative effects to may countries in the world. Coupled with the terror attacks, the global fear increased even more and the situation became worse and worse for asylum seekers in the Western countries. Ireland consequently found itself in a situation that made it awkward for the refugees and other asylum seekers who run there for shelter. The asylum seekers and the refugees found themselves deprived of many basic human provisions and rights that every individual should be allowed to enjoy.

Inequalities of Irish policy

The policies in Ireland are very detrimental to the refugees. For instance with introduction of the Direct Provision policy the adult asylum seekers were entitled to an allowance of €19.10 per week, children €9.60 which are way below what the average Irish earns and is barely enough for any tangible provision for an individual leave alone a family (Justin Frewel, 2010).

Worse still, it is illegal fro any refugee or asylum seeker to engage in business ventures or seek employment or anything that would supplement their stay. This then keeps them in the poverty status and inevitable social exclusion as they await the adjudication concerning their refugee statuses according to Refugee Act 1996 (Vincent O'Reilly, 2002).

Furthermore, the government has set up the accommodation centers where the asylum seekers must remain confined in with minimum hours to go visiting friends or any other reason to be out. A breach of the confinement rules can result in expulsion and forfeiture of the weekly allowances as was the case 2007 where 22 refugees were expelled.

European Union policy

The European Union (EU) has widely supported the harmonization process through its policies and recommendations. It has advocated for the recognition of individuals who are qualified for the refugee status throughout the various states and countries. However, the UNHCR feels that EU must move past the harmonization so as to solve the issue of refugee despondence in Europe and Ireland in particular. The EU should move to the collective decision making and also participate in burden sharing for the welfare of the asylum seekers and the refugees (Mikko Lahteenmaki, 2004). However, this process meets challenges since there is little or not sufficient political will at pursuing the same.

Direct provision

When one goes to Ireland as an asylum seeker, he has to go through a registration process. After filling in the required paperwork, they are then sent to temporary accommodation areas and the applications are undergoing the adjudication process (Integrating Ireland, 2009). These are what are called direct provisions, however the conditions are not very pleasant in the direct provisions as the conditions in terms of pay, education access, employment are not equitable as discussed above.

Citizenship and referendum

The referendum on the citizenship was mainly geared towards ensuring that the right to citizenship is given to those who deserve. Unfortunately the referendum was aimed at restricting the citizenship more and excludes those who were born in Ireland and both parents are not Irish as indicated in The Referendum Commission (2011) website. This will make it harder for the children who are born by the asylum seekers and the refugees since they do not have the identity of the original land or that of Ireland.

In general the Ireland social policy still has a lot to do in order to address the plight of the refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland. If nothing is done soon, there will continue to be the negative judgment of the refugees, lack of access to local authority housing, harsh conditions for adults and politicization of the refugee status in Ireland.