Up to 3,000 people living for years with "intolerable stress and uncertainty" while their asylum claims are processed should be allowed remain in Ireland, according to the Irish Refugee Council.
Trade unions, employers and church groups yesterday endorsed the council's call for the Government to end the "enforced limbo" of asylum-seekers waiting more than two years for a decision on their applications for refugee status.
The council wants all such people to be "regularised", that is, granted a secure status which would include the automatic right to work, access to education and training and the ability to apply for family reunification.
The ICTU, the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC) and the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) are supporting the call made in an IRC policy document yesterday.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue said the Government was working to reduce the length of time asylum applicants had to wait. However, introducing an amnesty would "send out the wrong signals especially to those who are engaged in the trafficking of persons".