ICI News Bulletin - Issue 57

Thursday, 03 December 2009

1. ICI Co-Founder named Philanthropist of the Year
2. Migrant women link up
3. Call to keep integration on the agenda
4. 16 Days of Action on Violence Against Women
5. Court denies leave to apply for judicial review in reverse discrimination test case
6. Meeting with Green Party and submission to Labour
7. Screening of film about sex trafficking
8. Senior Solicitor appointed to Law Society Human Rights Committee
9. Evaluation of ICI Mentoring Programme
10. Pathways to Employment project partners meet
11. Garda Racial and Intercultural Office consultation meeting
12. Boston College study trip to help inform citizenship campaign

 

ICI Co-Founder named Philanthropist of the Year
Chantal McCabe, who provided the funding for and founded the Immigrant Council of Ireland, was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Community Foundation for Ireland yesterday.

Ms McCabe provided the vision and seed funding for Social Innovations Ireland in 2001, and out of this organisation were formed the Immigrant Council of Ireland and Young Social Innovators, which were set up by Sr Stanislaus Kennedy.

The ICI would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank Ms McCabe for her generosity and on-going commitment over the years.

 

Migrant women link up
AkiDwA, the ICI and the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) today held a national forum for migrant women to discuss issues relating to integration and employment, gender-based violence and health.

Speakers included ICI Chief Executive Denise Charlton, who is an Expert at the EWL Observatory on Violence against Women; AkiDwA Director Salome Mbugua; ICI Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova; FLAC Director General Noeline Blackwell; EWL Deputy Chair Therese Murphy; and Dr Ursula Barry, lecturer in Women Studies at UCD.

The forum, at the EU Building Dawson Street, is part of the EWL’s project, “Equal Rights, Equal Voices”.

 

Call to keep integration on the agenda
Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo attended Dublin City Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on Social, Housing and Community Affairs yesterday and highlighted the need to remain committed to integration to ensure migrants’ needs are not sidelined or treated as an add-on.

Fidèle also expressed concern about the recent increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric suggesting migrants are responsible for the recession. The ICI believes migrants, alongside other members of the community, will play their role in helping to overcome the current economic crisis.  For more information, please contact Fidèle – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

16 Days of Action on Violence Against Women
The ICI has been actively participating in the national 16 Days of Action on Violence Against Women campaign, with Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova giving presentations on the ICI’s sex trafficking research in Dublin and Limerick.

Tomorrow morning, Nusha will talk about trafficking at Doras Luimní’s Awareness Day on Human Trafficking in Limerick.  The event will take place at Centre Space Studios, St Alphonsus Street.

Earlier this week, Nusha spoke about trafficking and also about social welfare restrictions applying to displaced people at an event hosted by Bray Women’s Refuge at Boston College on St Stephen’s Green.  The aim was to raise awareness about access to housing for vulnerable people, including victims of trafficking. Other speakers included solicitor Frank Crummy and Petra Costacha from the HSE.

 

Court denies leave to apply for judicial review in reverse discrimination test case
The High Court last week refused an Irish family leave to challenge the Government’s decision to deny their Chinese mother, mother-in-law and grandmother permission to live with them in Ireland.  The ICI represented the Moylan family in their application for leave to apply for a judicial review of the Government’s decision to deny Lihua Wang an extension of her permission to be in Ireland.

Ms Wang’s daughter Tingting Moylan, a naturalised Irish citizen, and son-in-law John had undertaken to meet her costs, including private health insurance, so that she would not be a burden on the State.

The court found that the family had failed to make out the “substantial” grounds necessary for judicial review proceedings to be brought.  The ICI had argued on behalf of the Moylan family that if the Moylans had been non-Irish EEA nationals resident in Ireland, their dependent relative would be allowed to live with them as part of their family and so a case of “reverse discrimination” against Irish citizens had occurred.  For more information, please contact Senior Solicitor Hilkka Becker – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Meeting with Green Party and submission to Labour
The ICI will meet with Green Party Senator Dan Boyle later this month to discuss issues relating to immigration and integration.  The meeting is in response to the ICI’s concerns about the revised Programme for Government, which appeared to weaken commitments to justice for migrants.  However, the Green Party has assured the ICI that the revised Programme for Government supplements, rather than replaces, the previous document.

Also, the ICI will make a submission to the Labour Party on its policy relating to gender based violence, providing an update on emerging issues for migrant women and supporting it’s current policy position on sex trafficking and prostitution, which advocates criminalising the purchase of sex.

 

Screening of film about sex trafficking
Next Thursday, the ICI, the Goethe Institut and the Austrian Embassy will host a screening of the film, “It Happened Just Before” followed by a short discussion about sex trafficking.

The film is a documentary exploring the real stories of trafficked women and comprises first person narratives read by people who, although not directly involved in the women’s destinies, may have played roles in them.  The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the issue of trafficking, chaired by FOMACS Director áine O’Brien.

Stephen Rogers, journalist and author of “Onthegame.ie”; Monica O’Connor, co-author of the ICI’s report “Globalisation, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution:  The Experiences of Migrant Women In Ireland” and Denise Charlton, ICI Chief Executive, will be on the panel.  If you wish to attend or would like more information, please contact ICI Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Senior Solicitor appointed to Law Society Human Rights Committee
Senior Solicitor Hilkka Becker has been appointed to the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee.  The committee, which was set up in 2004, aims to raise awareness in the Law Society, the legal profession and the public of human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and other international instruments.  It provides training and expertise in the area of human rights and is involved in the development of resources for use by the legal profession in relation to the protection and promotion of human rights.

The committee works with other organisations on the promotion of human rights and seeks to promote and support lawyers working for the implementation of international human rights standards at national and international level.

 

Evaluation of ICI Mentoring Programme
Following the successful conclusion of the ICI’s Mentoring Programme, which linked newly arrived migrants with Irish citizens and established residents, independent consultant Grainne Healy has been recruited to undertake an evaluation of the project.

It is expected the evaluation will make recommendations for rolling out the programme nationally.  The Mentoring Programme is funded by the European Integration Fund and administered by Pobal on behalf of the Office of the Minister for Integration.  For more information, please contact Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Pathways to Employment project partners meet
Partners in the EU-funded Pathways to Employment project held their first meeting last week in Belfast.  The ICI will be leading the communications aspect of the project.

Pathways to Employment:  An Employment Upgrade Training Programme for Young Immigrants is funded by the EC Education and Culture department under the Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation programme.

The lead partner is Springboard Opportunities Ltd, based in Belfast.  Core partners are:  Conform-Consorzio Formazione Manageriale, Italy; the ICI; Fundacion Laboral Del Metal, Spain; the University of Szczecin, Poland; and Canice Consulting, Northern Ireland. The Institute for Rights, Equality and Diversity (i-RED), in Greece, is an associate partner.  For more information, please contact Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Garda Racial and Intercultural Office consultation meeting
Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo attended the fourth annual Garda Racial and Intercultural Office consultation meeting last month.

At the meeting, An Garda Síochána gave a presentation on its Diversity Strategy for 2009 – 2012.

During the think-tank session, Fidèle highlighted the need to communicate and do follow up work with people and organisations reporting what they perceive to be racially motivated crimes.  For more information, please contact Fidèle – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Boston College study trip to help inform citizenship campaign
Media and Communications Officer Ruth Evans took part in a 10-day Boston College study tour last month, which involved meetings with NGOs working in fields such as immigration, equality, gang mediation and employment training for disenfranchised young people in Boston and Salt Lake City.  The theme of the programme was positive identity politics.

The course also involved meetings with politicians from the Democratic and Republican parties, and representatives from the think-tank The Sutherland Institute and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as well as seminars with academics from Boston College and Brigham Young University.

The ICI hopes to use learning from the course to help inform our campaign on citizenship and belonging.