THE IMMIGRATION Residence and Protection Bill should be amended to bring it into line with the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Manuel Jordao, the UNHCR representative to Ireland, was speaking to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights yesterday. He said the way the Bill was drafted at the moment, certain people fleeing persecution and arriving in Ireland without valid documents would have no chance whatsoever of getting into the country to make their claim for asylum, contrary to the convention. "It's your obligation to take them into protection," he said.
The UNHCR submitted a 40- page document to the committee, outlining areas where the Bill should be amended, covering areas such as access to asylum procedures, the definition of persecution, the use of detention, child protection and family reunification.
"UNHCR's comments seek to ensure that the new Act preserves positive features of the current Irish asylum process but also capitalises on the unique opportunity to address key aspects of the asylum system that call for a number of improvements," he said.
Robin Hannan, head of the Irish Refugee Council, told the committee there was widespread disquiet about the operation of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, including from eminent members of the tribunal itself. "We need a clear break between the RAT and the Protection Review Tribunal, which is not in this Bill," he said.