Chinese leaving over lack of work permits, says centre

CHINESE IMMIGRANTS are leaving Ireland in large numbers because they cannot get work permits, a seminar on migration has been told.

Five Chinese restaurants have closed in the past month because they could not get permits for their chefs, according to Dr Katharine Chan Mullen, co-founder of the Irish Chinese Information Centre.

She said the Government's Green Card system for immigrants was "no good" for the Chinese community, many of whom came here on student visas and are working on low incomes. "They don't want to stay in this country anyway," she told Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan at a seminar organised by the European Commission in Dublin.

Mr Lenihan said he understood what Dr Chan Mullen was saying, however he said there had been abuses of the student visa system. In many cases, students had worked way above the 20 hours allowed under their visas and had attended "brass plate" language schools that provided "threadbare" levels of tuition.

"We should be trying to fill our skills needs from within the EU. That is part of our commitment to the EU." Up to 90 per cent of skills needs were now being met from within the Union, he said.The Minister had earlier spoken of a "massive productivity challenge" to the country, to move immigrants up to work positions commensurate with their abilities and level of education.

Dr Chan Mullen said many Chinese had been in Ireland for years and still could not read English. She had tried to organise English classes but received no support for premises or other running costs . Siobhán O'Donoghue, director of the Migrant Rights Centre, said immigrants found it difficult to move on from low-paid, low-status jobs as a result of the policies in place in society.

Earlier, Mr Lenihan warned that a failure to manage integration successfully would result in instability and "a recipe for disaster". The Minister said he rejected the extremes of "excessive multiculturalism" on the one hand and "dire assimilation" on the other in favour of an approach that stressed social stability and the avoidance of ghettos.