Paul Murphy Urges Equal Treatment for All Refugees

There is a huge sense of solidarity amongst ordinary people for the Ukrainian refugees who have had no choice but to flee their country and arrive in countries like Ireland and there is huge support for the idea that the state has to do everything possible to support those people and the question is whether the reform refugee process will be reformed now so that all refugees coming to Ireland receive the same sort of support of welcome and support regardless of which country they are fleeing, which war they are fleeing or what their skin colour is. When mass displacements of people have occurred as a result of violence and conflicts in countries like Syria and Afghanistan, safety and shelter for people forced to flee has largely been provided by their neighbouring countries. Most people want to return to their homes as soon as it is safe to do so. That is human nature. Nothing nearby helps them to feel closer to that goal. It is the same for the people fleeing Ukraine who are clearly strongly patriotic people. Except this time we in Europe are their closest neighbours. We are stepping up to support them in the same way that Jordan, Lebanon and other countries have for their neighbours. The Ukrainian people want to be as close to their homes as the war will allow. For this reason the EU has, for the first time in its history, activated the temporary protection directive. This does not replace the international protection system. Any non-EU citizen can still apply for international protection in any EU member state, including Ireland. Their application will be processed under the established international and EU asylum law. But it does provide an alternative system designed to be immediately responsive to an unprecedented volume of people in need of temporary protection on Europe's borders in a way that supports their wish to return to their homes as soon as it is safe to do so. People in need of international protection are generally seeking protection from the actions of state authorities in their home country. It may never be safe for them to return home. The situation in Ukraine is different. This displacement of millions of people is driven by the actions of a foreign aggressor. But people who have fled Ukraine or any other country in genuine search of safety and support will find it here in Ireland. Assistance will also be provided to people who are legally residing in Ukraine without a permanent residence permit to return to their home country if it is safe for them to do so. I can assure the deputy that my department continues to work to improve the international protection process and to reduce processing times, in line with the recommendations made by the expert advisory group led by Catherine Day and the commitments in the government's white paper. In so far as possible, I am bearing in mind that the number of people claiming international protection has increased significantly in recent months. I welcome the processes that have been put in place to assist Ukrainian refugees, to assist them to find accommodation, to get a PPS number, to access education and healthcare, to avail of banking services, to gain permissions to work in Ireland and to access translation services. The sort of processes and hubs that have been put in place are precisely what is necessary for people who are fleeing a war situation to help them find security and safety while they deal with their trauma of their experiences in war and their flight to safety. The point is that all refugees need that kind of support. And this sort of discrimination on the basis of quote-unquote neighbourhood, which is the same language that the Taunashy used, I think is completely immoral. You are saying that people who are fleeing from Ukraine should be treated differently than people who are fleeing from Libya, from Syria, from Afghanistan, on the basis of neighbourhood. No, that's horrendous. Like, these people have all sorts of difficulties, delays in issuing temporary residence cards for international protection. Applicants unable to get PPS numbers, unable to access schools, unable to access medical cards, without even talking about direct provision. How is that moral? How can the Government stand over that? Surely this needs to be the end of the old system, and now treat all refugees in a decent, humane way. Thank you. As I said, an alternative system has been put in place by the European Union in terms of applying the temporary protection directive, which applies to everybody who is leaving the Ukraine, and who can now come to the European Union for that protection. People can come to Ireland too for protection, where they need that protection, and can apply under the international protection system for this country. Those supports are being put in place. An end-to-end review of the relevant international protection processes by a multidisciplinary team from my department has now been completed, and that has been published as well. By October, at the latest, my department will carry out a review of the progress made in reducing those and improving those processing times. We have also introduced a regularisation scheme, as you will be very much aware of, to put in place as well, and that scheme is put in place. So in terms of the international protection system here in Ireland, significant progress has been made in terms of implementing both the Catching Day Report and other supports as well. But in particular, in relation to the Ukrainian people, the temporary protection directive has been instigated by the European Union. What you are saying is that Ukrainian refugees will come here, don't have to go into direct provision, that they will be given hubs, PPS numbers, education assistance, all the things that refugees need. Great, that is brilliant, that is what we need for Ukrainian refugees. But at the same time, you are going to continue to say that people who come from Syria or Libya or wherever else are going to go into direct provision, over 6,000 people in there now, almost 2,000 children, a system that takes away people's dignity, a system that makes people feel worthless, for example, to quote from Bululani Mfako of Massey, a system where you have an increasing number of complaints. Why? Because they are not from our neighbourhood? That is a racist policy, Minister. That is racism to say that this country is near us. Ukraine is 3,000 kilometres away, Syria is 4,000 kilometres away. Is that really the basis upon which you are making the decision? No, it is a racist decision that you are making to continue with direct provision for some, while for others you do the right thing in terms of treating people in a humane way. This Government and my department has brought in a number of very important reforms in relation to the international protection system in this country. We are one of the first countries, actually the only country in relation to the Afghan in the European Union, bringing a bespoke protection system to be able to bring Afghans here to Ireland. We now have the regularisation scheme, which is the most generous regularisation scheme of any country in Europe. This Government and my department have not been found wanting in terms of putting those supports in place, and in terms of implementing the Catch and Day report as well, and getting that into place as quickly as possible. In relation to Ukrainians, the European Union implemented its temporary protection directive. That is why Ukrainians coming to Ireland or anywhere in the European Union have been given those automatic rights on a temporary basis, so that they can, when the time comes and the war of aggression and of murder by Putin comes to an end, that those Ukrainians will want to and will be able to go back home to rebuild their country. Thank you very much.