Putting 'Ireland of the Welcomes' to the Test

campaigns begin to regularise immigration laws and give security to those already here

A report on the campaigns to regularise our immigration laws and provide residency / work rights to some of those currently in Ireland.

(photo by redjade - 'Tomso is an Irish Citizen in Hiding' - the irish state has recently deported his mother to nigeria - read his story here)

The recent referendum on citizenship may have changed the constitution but in many ways this is only the start of a debate on immigration in Ireland as legislation on the issue is still in the pipeline. Currently under Irish law any child born on the island is still an Irish citizen, the status of migrants on work visas is starting to be an issue for the trade union movement and the promise by Michael McDowell to 'deal with those currently here' has yet to be fulfilled. A number of campaigning groups have now started to look at the reality for migrants currently in Ireland.

Residents against Racism, a group which has been in existence for 5 years, launched its campaign last week to seek residency and work rights for the non-national parents of Irish children. These were the people affected by the February 2003 Supreme Court judgement which removed their residency rights. These are the people that were much discussed during the recent referendum campaign. Given that the CSO fgures showed 85,000 people immigrating to ireland last year alone, the 11,000 or so people affected by this change are a small number. Mark Grehan from Residents against Racism questions even this number making the point that deportations and outward migration have already reduced the number. Included in those deportations were at least 19 Irish citizens who were deported along with their parents.

The RAR campaign is a coalition of groups including immigrant and refugee support groups and has begun seeking support from Irish political parties and trade unions. To this end a letter will be sent to all TD's in the next week and a protest is planned for the 29th of September - the day the Dail returns from the summer recess. According to Mr Grehan the change can be made by ministerial order and will result in these people being granted residency and work rights.

Next Saturday will see another group - variously billed as the African Social Forum or Amnesty for All - holding their launch in Liberty Hall. According to Joe Carolan from the group, they want Minister McDowell to live up to his commitment given on June 14th to deal with all the people currently resident in Ireland. Mr Carolan points to the example of Portugal which granted an amnesty in 1992 to non-EU citizens who were resident for 6 months or more in the country. He also stresses the importance of the right to study mentioning the case of Celine Codorean who achieved 450 points in the Irish Leaving Certificate and who was accepted into Trinity College but who now has a deportation order against her.

What both campaigns agree on is the fallacy of the notion that immigrants will have a negative impact on existing Irish workers. In this they are backed up by international research such as that conducted across Europe by the European Commission and published in July 2001 with the title 'Labour Demand, Education and the Dynamics of Social Exclusion'. In one of its conclusions this study (which covered Ireland as well as the rest of the EU) found “.. that there were no negative labour market effects of immigration on natives and hence confirm the results obtained in other countries such as the US or Canada.”

Indeed the impact of immigrants has been found to be universally positive from an economic point of view with growth and wealth having a direct correlation to levels of immigration. John Fitzgerald from the ESRI in a paper delivered last month to the Merriman Summer School (Ireland – an Ageing Multicultural Economy: Aug 2004) warned that “If Ireland fails to embrace and build on the benefits of becoming a multicultural economy, through allowing appropriate migration in and out, it will rapidly fall behind its competitors.” He points to the inefficiencies of the current system of work visas and calls for a transparent, open system both for skilled and unskilled workers. Given that the ESRI is not known as the most radical of groups it is surprising to see that his conclusions open up the possibility that the 'No Borders' policy of those campaigning on Mayday, dismissed at the time by all mainstream political commentators, has an economic justification.

“There is a choice between two different approaches: allowing limited immigration of unskilled labour through a transparent programme or, alternatively, an open door policy that allows fairly free inward movement. ...Evidence from the US suggests that an open door policy on unskilled immigration would probably enhance the growth potential of the economy and would be good for skilled Irish citizens..” While he acknowledges that there could be an impact on the social services system with an open door policy - nowhere does he propose that the existing system can or should be retained.

In many ways the current system seems to be the worst of all possible worlds. The EU commission report warned that “the two most important determinants of fast assimilation identified in all countries are language skills as well as attachment to the labour market in order to accumulate labour market experience.” Given the large number of residents in Ireland who are cut off from the labour market this seems to be a policy which is not only economically sort sighted but one which seems designed to ensure poor assimilation, heighten social tensions and institutionalise the morally questionable practice of deporting our own citizens.

The citizenship referendum may have been passed by a huge majority as a result of widespread and government approved scaremongering about 'Benefit Tourists' and the 'hordes' of pregnant women supposedly arriving on our shores. But until the legislation which was presented is actually passed nothing has actually changed. There is still a window of opportunity to devise a coherent, sensible immigration policy for this society.

This argument should be pursued by all regardless of their positions on the political spectrum. Even those who view the economic sphere as all important have to admit that immigration is good for this country. For those driven by social or moral concerns there can be no excuse for tolerance of the cowardly, insular and economically illiterate policies of our supposedly socially and economically liberal Minister for Justice.