The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has tended to adopt a blunt, confrontational approach to the issue of asylum-seekers, when a cool and measured response would be more in keeping with the delicacy of the situation. His position has accorded with traditional views within his Department which regarded impecunious foreigners as problems and liabilities rather than potential assets. Nobody denies that this is a difficult, complex issue and that it is growing in magnitude. But many of the difficulties now evident have been exacerbated by failures of official policy and imagination.
The Minister's latest contribution to the debate came last Tuesday, when he announced the establishment of a Garda National Immigration Bureau which will have a central staff of 37, including four senior officers. The new bureau will have liaison officers based in Paris and London. About 60-70 per cent of the 15,400 asylum-seekers in the State are Romanian or Nigerian and arrived from France or Britain. The contentious part of the Minister's announcement involves the proposed detention of those immigrants who have been refused both asylum and a judicial review, pending their deportation. Department sources have suggested they might be held for very short periods, mainly overnight, in Garda stations. Yesterday, the general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Mr P.J. Stone, said Garda stations would not be able to cope with that kind of workload and they would not be suitable to accommodate families.
It may take weeks or months for the specifics of the legislation to come before the Dail. And there is no certainty it will take effect before the autumn. At the same time, the Minister promised to deal with all new asylum applications within six months and to provide the necessary resources for this to happen. It is an extremely ambitious agenda. And the evidence would suggest it will not be met. Since taking office nearly three years ago, the Government has authorised an expansion of personnel from 24 to 300 in this area. But it has not been enough. The backlog of asylum applications amounted to 11,400 last March and, in spite of the increased in staff numbers, is growing by an estimated 3,000 per month.
Official policy appears designed to deal with asylum-seekers some time after they arrive, rather than at the point of entry. Yet the Dublin Convention, which was signed into law by Mr O'Donoghue three years ago, provides for the return of non-EU nationals with incorrect papers to the State from which they originally came. For the bulk of our asylum-seekers, these countries would be France and Britain. Are these countries withholding co-operation on the Convention, or is our Government not implementing its provisions? We should be told. Later today, Mr O'Donoghue flies to Romania to sign a formal agreement that will facilitate the early repatriation of persons to that country. Such a measure will be of assistance in terms of overall policy. But, as the Catholic bishops said in their recent statement, a more Christian, humanitarian and pragmatic approach should be considered in relation to many of the people already here.