Coalition at odds over proposals to expand asylum system to include climate migrants

A Coalition rift has emerged over proposals to expand the asylum system to include a new category for climate migrants, while some Opposition members have also criticised the plans.

Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said on Monday that a defined group within the asylum process will have to be established to take in those fleeing their homes for climate reasons.

“I think that’s something I would like to see but I think that’s something that would have to be done at an international basis,” he told the Irish Examiner newspaper.

Mr O’Gorman also said the visa system should be widened to allow more economic migrants into the country in the coming years to fill jobs where there are currently skills shortages.

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Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell, who is the party’s climate action spokesman, said that “outside of any particular constraints at the moment, our immigration system is sufficiently robust to handle real migrant cases vs economic ones. We have one of the lowest population densities in the EU but not enough infrastructure nor housing. While that might change, I think to pre-empt large scale climate migration will increase pressure on a system which is overwhelmed.”

“This conversation would be better started at an EU level.”

A Government source emphasised that Mr O’Gorman proposed that such a system should be examined on an international level.

Independent TD Carol Nolan said she is “absolutely opposed to any attempt to further the criteria upon which inward migration or asylum applications can be made”.

“If anything we need to be strengthening and narrowing the current system by rescuing it from the laxity which has characterised it and the shambles that it has become. The proposal made by Minister by O’Gorman is farcical, unworkable in practice and open to a host of issues regarding verification of climate damage.

“It also completely ignores the layered reality of why land becomes ‘uninhabitable’. Often there is an interplay of weather related issues, local conflicts and religious persecution, as is the case in Nigeria.

“Ireland has already committed hundreds of millions specifically to address climate justice issues. We have also committed to increasing our Overseas Development Aid to more than €3 billion by 2030. Seen in this light, our conscience is clear in terms of any accusation of not doing enough to respond to climate issues,” she said.

Sinn Féin TD Darren O’Rourke said that the Irish Government and the EU should prepare for climate migration.

“Climate migration is already happening. We can see that in the wake of extreme-weather events in Pakistan, the Horn of Africa, the Pacific Islands and elsewhere.

“The Irish Government and their European counterparts should recognise that and prepare for it, not only in terms of immigration policy, but also in terms of mitigation, and by supporting those worst affected by the climate crisis. The Irish Government’s commitment to ‘loss and damage’ funding must be matched at a European level, for example, and it must be matched with action.”

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said the number of asylum seekers arriving into Ireland will increase into the future “as more and more people’s homelands become uninhabitable”.

“It is imperative that Government puts in place an immigration system that is fit for purpose and can assess applicants quickly and humanely. The current direct provision system does not meet that standard. Government needs to put sufficient resources in place to ensure that these reforms happen without delay.”

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said she “entirely agrees” with Mr O’Gorman’s comments.

“I believe that discussion should start now at international level about incorporating forced climate grounds within the grounds for seeking asylum. Clearly this will become a more pressing factor in forced migration, as we see ever more starkly the impact of the climate crisis in so many countries – as is happening now in Fiji.”

Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan said “astronomical” numbers will have to leave their homes.

“This is something we need to be preparing for. When you see the challenges we have had in dealing with refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine and other parts of the globe and the issues we faced in accommodating them, I really think that will pale into insignificance when you consider the huge portion of the population of the planet who over the next couple of decades are going to be impacted by climate change.

“This is a reality that all European countries will have to face. We are going to have to do our bit and accommodate people who are impacted by climate change. It is very prudent to take steps now to prepare for something that we thought would happen at the end of the century, but is actually happening now.”