Sir, – It is patently absurd for the chief executive of the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre (Nasc) to conclude that the huge numbers of asylum seekers who present at the International Protection Office, rather than at their point of entry to the State, do so because they fear deportation or because, after fleeing persecution and living for a while in Ireland, they now feel the time is right to submit an asylum application (Letters, April 26th).
To include Ukrainian nationals in this cohort is even more absurd, given that they do not apply for asylum per se, but are required to simply register as genuine Ukrainian citizens in order to avail of the right to remain in this country under the EU directive on temporary protection.
Rather than accusing the Minister for Justice of “further inflaming public opinion”, it is high time that the NGO community engaged with the State to find a way to deal with the abuses in the asylum system which have resulted in genuine refugees from Afghanistan and Syria sleeping on our streets. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN McDONALD,
Dublin 12.