ICI News Bulletin - Issue 62
1. European Commission to raise residence cards applications delays with Irish authorities
2. Submission to Human Rights Commissions’ consultation paper on migrant workers’ rights
3. Meeting with immigration authorities
4. CSO survey highlights need to prevent exploitation of migrants in the workplace
5. Citizenship and identity “think-in” informs ICI work on permanency issues
6. “The Phil” debates whether prostitution is a legitimate career
7. Anti-Trafficking Coordinator speaks at Feminist Open Forum on Sex Trafficking and Prostitution
8. Meeting discusses need to invest in education to prevent an underclass forming
9. Transnational Forum on Migration and Integration Meeting in Washington DC
10. Strong turn-out for Galway training seminar
11. Needs Analysis completed for Pathways to Work Project
12. Year of the Tiger celebrations
13. ICI trainee solicitor reaches finals of European Law Moot Court Competition
European Commission to raise residence card applications delays with Irish authorities
The European Commission has written to the ICI saying it will raise with Irish authorities the length of time they take to review decisions to refuse residence to the family members of EU citizens.
Under the EU Free Movement Directive, the family members of EU citizens who move to Ireland to work or study, for example, have the right to be with them in this country and the right to receive a final decision on an application for a residence card within a period of an absolute maximum of six months.
In many cases, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform takes the entire six months to make an initial decision and the Commission is now dealing with a number of complaints from people waiting more than 12 months for a decision on their subsequent applications for a review of a decision to refuse them residency.
For further information please contact: hilkka@immigrantcouncil.ie
Submission to Human Rights Commissions’ consultation paper on migrant workers’ rights
The ICI has made a submission on protecting the rights of migrant workers in Ireland to the Joint Committee of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights Commission. The joint committee believes that the United Nation’s International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families is the best international standard to protect migrant workers’ human rights.
In the ICI’s submission, Senior Solicitor Hilkka Becker argued that ratification of the Convention by Ireland and the European Union as a whole would greatly enhance migrant workers’ rights. The Convention seeks to prevent and eliminate the exploitation of migrant workers and members of their families throughout the entire migration process.
Hilkka said the Convention includes a right to be informed before departure, or at the latest at the time of admission to the State of employment, of all conditions applicable to the admission, as well as of the requirements to be satisfied in the receiving country. This obligation would go a long way towards the adequate reception and integration of migrant workers and would contribute to a decline in the number of people who find themselves undocumented through no fault of their own.
Meeting with immigration authorities
The ICI will raise recent difficulties with the renewal of residence permits for the parents of Irish citizen children, the introduction of biometric information measures for visa applicants and the residency rights of non-EEA partners of EU citizens during a meeting with immigration authorities next week.
The meeting is part of the continuing successful work of the Immigration Information Network (IIN), which involves representatives of a number of NGOs in the immigration sector discussing issues with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS).
The IIN forums were established by NGOs to provide a platform for information sharing and policy clarification. The network meets quarterly with INIS and GNIB to discuss issues of policy and procedure within the immigration system, to clarify issues that have arisen in our service provision, to receive updates on future policy changes, and to discuss areas where the administration of the immigration system requires clarification.
For more information, please contact Information and Referral Service Coordinator Brian Killoran – brian@immigrantcouncil.ie
CSO survey highlights need to prevent exploitation of migrants in the workplace
A recent survey by the CSO has shown that migrants are half as likely as Irish workers to have access to workplace conditions such as paid sick leave, flexible working arrangements and paid leave for training. The same survey also shows half as many migrants as Irish workers are aware of Irish employment law.
Chief Executive Denise Charlton said the survey demonstrates a clear need for the Government to make information about workplace rights and entitlements more readily available and accessible to migrants.
“In the current economic situation, it is more important than ever that the Government rigorously enforces employment laws to ensure migrants are not being exploited in the workplace,” Denise said. “What signal does it send when we are not informing some members of our community about their rights and entitlements in the workplace when we have clear evidence they are being treated less favourably?”
Citizenship and identity “think-in” informs ICI work on permanency issues
Ireland could draw from the experiences of its emigrants when developing effective integration polices, Professor Mary Hickman told the ICI’s Migration and Identity Think-In at UCD last week. Professor Hickman, from London Metropolitan University, said in her keynote address that current discourse on immigration also often ignored that Ireland has always been a diverse country.
The think-in was attended by representatives from civil society, migrants, academics, postgraduate students and transnational partners of the ICI. The event was chaired by Piaras Mac Éinrí from University College Cork.
ICI Senior Solicitor Catherine Cosgrave spoke about migrants’ experiences navigating the citizenship process in Ireland, while Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo spoke about belonging and identity and attitudes to migrants. For more information, please contact Fidèle – fidele@immigrantcouncil.ie
“The Phil” debates whether prostitution is a legitimate career
Last week, Anti-trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova spoke at a debate at the prestigious Trinity debating society, The University Philosophical Society. The motion for the night was “That This House Believes That Prostitution is a Legitimate Career Move”.
Nusha outlined the terrible exploitation faced by women in prostitution and the health impacts of their involvement in the Irish sex industry before telling the House that prostitution is as likely to become a legitimate career as Trinity College is to run a Masters in pimping.
Speaking against Nusha were representatives of the Sex Workers Alliance, Ireland and several student debaters. Dr Theresa Whitaker and Mr Paul Ryan, both of SWAI, spoke in favour of the motion which was rejected by the House. For more information, please contact Nusha – nusha@immigrantcouncil.ie
Anti-Trafficking Coordinator speaks at Feminist Open Forum on Sex Trafficking and Prostitution
Anti-trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova spoke at the Feminist Open Forum on “Sex Trafficking and Prostitution – The Irish Situation” last week.
Other speakers at the event included Gráinne Healy, the Coordinator of the Dignity Project, who spoke abut the work of the project and the efforts being made to identify good practice for service provision for victims of trafficking. Salome Mbugua, the Director of AkiDwA, spoke about the upcoming launch by AkiDwA of a report into Direct Provision centres. Finally, Monica O’Connor spoke about the research she conducted for the ICI last year which led to the publication of the report “Globalisation, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution: The Experiences of Migrant Women in Ireland.” For more information, please contact Nusha – nusha@immigrantcouncil.ie
Meeting discusses need to invest in education to prevent an underclass forming
The need to invest in the education of children of migrant parents, in order to prevent the formation of an underclass as has occurred in other European countries, was discussed at the second meeting of the transnational steering committee for the ICI’s Pathways to Parental Leadership project. The meeting was held at UCD last week.
The Pathways to Parental Leadership project is funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), an initiative of the Network of European Foundations (NEF). It aims to identity barriers to migrants’ involvement in their children’s school lives and to develop a toolkit to help overcome those barriers.
Experts from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK attended the meeting, which also discussed preliminary findings from research involving 15 school staff and 25 migrant parents from the five participating schools. The meeting focused on the outline and content of the toolkit, which will provide practical ideas on how to promote and foster migrant parents’ involvement in the school lives of their children, the relevance of the toolkit in Ireland today and how it should be disseminated.
For more information, please contact Research Intern Lucy Jessel - Research_Intern@immigrantcouncil.ie
Transnational Forum on Migration and Integration Meeting in Washington DC
Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo recently attended a meeting in Washington, hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), to discuss initiatives aimed at getting participants’ organisations involved in the Forum. These initiatives include professional exchanges and spin-off projects.
The meeting discussed fundraising opportunities and models, the corporate fundraising environment and project research. Patricia Pasqual, Director of the GMF Washington office, gave a presentation entitled, “New Trends in Philanthropy and the International Giving Scene”.
Participants shared their fundraising experiences and information on immigration and integration issues in their respective jurisdictions. The meeting was followed by a visit to the White House. For more information, please contact Fidèle – fidele@immigrantcouncil.ie
Strong turn-out for Galway training seminar
Twenty-four social workers and other service providers working with migrant women experiencing domestic violence attended a half-day seminar given by Education and Training Officer Gillian Kennedy in Galway city last week. The session, “Rights and entitlements of migrant women experiencing gender-based violence” was attended by maternity and medical social workers, staff from women’s refuges and support services and migrant information services.
Given the strong demand for this type of training session and the complexity of the issues service providers are facing, the ICI hopes to conduct more regional seminars this year.
Issues raised by the group included difficulties in accessing social welfare supports for women who do not satisfy the Habitual Residency Condition and problems encountered by women whose residency status is dependant on their spouses. The ICI will be working with staff from some Dublin-based women’s refuges in relation to these and other issues in the coming months. For more information, please contact Gillian - gillian@immigrantcouncil.ie
Needs analysis completed for Pathways to Work Project
A needs analysis has been carried out under the “Pathways to Work” project detailing difficulties faced by young migrants seeking work. This analysis was carried out by Dr Anthony Finn and comprised a focus group, one-to-one interviews and questionnaires.
The “Pathways to Work” project is an employment upgrade training programme aimed at helping young migrants by facilitating access to training, better jobs and lifecycle career plans. The initiative is funded by the European Commission under the Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation grant scheme and has partner organisations in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. For more information, please contact Fidèle – fidele@immigrantcouncil.ie
Year of the Tiger celebrations
Information and Referral Service Coordinator Brian Killoran represented the ICI at “A Tiger Tonic for a Tousled Economy - A Sino-Irish Business and Entrepreneurship Seminar”, held to celebrate Chinese New Year. The conference looked at business links between Ireland and China and addressed issues regarding the status of many Chinese nationals in Ireland.
Brian spoke about how a more secure and permanent status such as long-term residency or citizenship benefits individuals, not only in their labour mobility, but also in terms of integration. A more permanent status allows people to become self-employed, if they wish, giving greater opportunity for a flexible approach to a difficult economic situation through entrepreneurship. The event also featured speakers from Dublin City Council and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service.
ICI trainee solicitor reaches finals of European Law Moot Court Competition
Trainee Solicitor Ruth Ní Fhionnáin has reached the finals of the European Law Moot Court Competition after having won the Regional Finals held at Columbia University, New York, last week. Ruth will speak with three other students from the Law Society of Ireland, Grace O’Connor, Richard Kelly, and Anna Hickey. The final will be held at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg next month.
A “moot” competition is a simulated court hearing, in which teams of students prepare written pleadings in relation to a problem of European law and present their arguments in oral proceedings before the Court of Justice.
The fictional case to be argued by the team relates to the refusal by a fictional European Union Member State to grant long-term residency to a third country national and the charging of exorbitant fees for the long-term residence permits by the Member State. The arguments will be pleaded before judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
All here at the ICI wish Ruth the very best of luck as she argues on behalf of the migrant in the moot hearing.