Written Answers. - Asylum Provision.
Ruairí Quinn
Question:
94
Mr. Quinn
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
his views on the findings of a recent audit by Amnesty International which found that Irish provision for asylum seekers fell seriously short of international law on human rights; the steps he intends to take to deal with the shortcoming identified by Amnesty; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[14994/01]
The audit which the Deputy refers to is entitled "Ireland: An audit of compliance with international human rights standards 2000" published recently by the Irish section of Amnesty International. The audit in question deals with a range of issues including asylum and focuses on, inter alia, the degree to which the State protects the right to seek asylum against the benchmark of applicable international human rights law and standards.
I totally reject the analysis contained in the audit to the effect that aspects of our asylum law and procedures fail to comply with international human rights standards. Much of the analysis in the audit is selective and does not fully recognise the major efforts which have been taken by me to ensure that we have in place a comprehensive body of law and support arrangements to ensure that asylum applications are processed in a fair and transparent manner and in line with best international practice.
The Government places a high priority on maintaining an asylum process which is both fair and transparent in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 convention and which is geared towards providing protection to those in genuine need of such protection as quickly as possible.
The Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, provides a strong foundation for meeting Ireland's obligations under the 1951 Geneva Convention to which the State is fully committed. The 1996 Act, which compares very favourably with legislative provisions internationally, was commenced in full on 20 November 2000 and drafted in full consultation with the UNHCR. The Act, which places the procedures for processing applications for refugee status on a statutory footing has resulted in the establishment of two new independent statutory offices to process asylum applications namely, a Refugee Applications Commissioner who makes recommendations to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform as to whether a person should be granted or refused refugee status and a Refugee Appeals Tribunal consisting of individual independent members to deal with appeals against negative recommendations of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and a chairperson whose role is to allocate work and develop a system of quality control, as well as hearing appeals.
The scope of the 1996 Act is wide ranging dealing as it does in a comprehensive manner with first instance decisions, appeals, right to legal representation, right to interpretation and providing specifically for a direct contribution to be made by the UNHCR to the determination process. Considerable resources are expended annually to ensure that our procedures are in line with the best international practice and the highest standards and the application of these procedures have been affirmed by the courts on several occasions.
I am at present providing additional resources to the various parts of the asylum process with a view to speeding up processing times and strengthening the refugee legal service which provides legal advice to asylum seekers at all stages in the process.
With regard to some of the specific areas of concern in relation to the asylum process referred to in the audit and the audit's main recommendations I would make the following comments. On access to interpretation, including gender specific interpretation, the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, provides that interpreters will be provided where "necessary and possible". This wording is not intended to be restrictive, rather, it places the highest possible onus on the authorities to provide an interpreter, while allowing for the rare and exceptional case where a person refuses to co-operate. The implication of deleting "possible" is that it would be a statutory requirement to provide an interpreter even where it was impossible thereby creating an unworkable provision. An asylum interview cannot be held unless the interviewer and the asylum applicant can communicate and under no circumstances can a substantive decision be made on an application for asylum without an interview being held. Both the office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal operate policies of providing interpretation at all interviews or hearings where requested and of providing gender specific interpretation where appropriate. Interpretation will always be provided where practicable and possible having regard to the fact there are currently in excess of 100 nationalities represented in the asylum system and that for certain languages there is a limited number of interpreters available in the State.
Comprehensive training is provided to staff working in the asylum process. Staff are trained to deal with applicants for asylum in a sympathetic manner and with respect and sensitivity and a full awareness of cultural differences. This training includes procedures to be followed when dealing with sensitive matters such as gender issues and victims of trauma and violence. All staff working in the asylum area including the reception and interviewing personnel have completed appropriate training courses and have received "on the job" experience of interviews and assessments. Training programmes are agreed with UNHCR and delivered by a combination of the Department's own experienced personnel, UNHCR training specialists and the UNHCR's full time official here.
A comprehensive range of research sources, electronic and printed material, are available to authorised officers involved in interviewing and assessing applications for a declaration as a refugee. This information is updated regularly.
An independent documentation centre has also been established under the aegis of the Legal Aid Board and its role is to maintain a collection of objective and up to date country of origin information and asylum, immigration, legal and human rights documentation and to make this information accessible to all those involved in the asylum process, for example, decision makers in the office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and legal representatives of asylum seekers as well as those with a research interest in refugee and asylum issues.
With regard to the application of the principle of non-refoulement, I would point out that the making of a deportation order is subject to section 5 of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, which absolutely forbids the sending of a person “in any manner whatsoever” to a place where the life or freedom of that person would be threatened on account of that person's race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or opinion. This overarching principle is the bedrock of Ireland's repatriation framework and is vigorously applied in order to meet our obligations under both domestic and international law.
While the asylum process seeks to ensure that those who are genuinely in need of protection receive that protection as quickly as possible, it is also important that in order to protect the integrity of our process, sanctions are also in place so as to ensure that abusive and fraudulent applications do not clog up the determination process with the consequence of delaying the identification of genuine refugees. The Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, contains provisions similar to those existing in other EU states relating to the detention of asylum seekers in certain specified circumstances.
The provisions exist as an aid to immigration officers or members of the Garda and their application is a matter for the Garda who are experienced in this area. I would point out, however, that the Act contains comprehensive safeguards to protect those detained. In addition, general principles for detention are set out in the Refugee Act, 1996 (Places and Conditions of Detention) Regulations, 2000. I would reiterate that asylum applications in Ireland are processed in accordance with procedures agreed with the UNHCR and are based on the highest standards of international practice.
