Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Mar 1997

Vol. 150 No. 7

Adjournment Matters. - Media Identification of Asylum Seekers.

Mr. O'Toole

I wish to raise the matter of the identification of asylum seekers by the media. I am concerned about some developments. We discussed the Refugee Bill, 1996, at length in the House and had many differences with the Minister of State. We came to an agreement on it, concessions were made and it was passed. Getting it through the House was a long and tortuous process. Elements of it were important to us and I want to refer to the identification of refugees.

We know the dangers for refugees if they are identified in the media and word gets back to their home territory. In 1996 while we debated the Refugee Bill, a press conference was organised where two young Russians who had arrived in Ireland were identified, photographed and filmed. Their home villages were identified and for good measure they were branded as deserters from the Russian army. The Russian Embassy was apparently contacted by a journalist to see if it would check whether the pair were genuine deserters. It is easy to find it humorous, but we know how difficult it was for them. Within 48 hours the pair had fled the country and everyone assumed that they were practical jokers. Since that time Rescue Trust has been the only organisation to raise this issue and it has had a chequered history of relationships with the Minister of State's Department. However, it is important to recognise it raised this issue and that the issue has been raised in the media since then.

On 26 February 1997 photographs of nine Liberian asylum seekers appeared in the media while there was also television coverage identifying them. I am sure the Minister of State shares my concern. I am not raising this in order to get somebody in the dock for breaking the law. I raise this because what is being done is intrinsically wrong and it is completely against the spirit of what was agreed in the Act. If the Liberians request for asylum is refused where do they turn? On appeal they could justifiably claim that following their identification in Ireland, their lives would be at risk if they were to be forcibly returned to Liberia. If their request is granted, how will their families fare? What will the Government's reaction be if the families are punished by the Liberian authorities? Have the dangers to which asylum seekers are exposed upon identification and the impact of future legislation been pointed out to journalists and others?

This was an intrusion. It is wrong, will cause problems in the future and has been handled very badly. The Department has to take responsibility for these events. It was raised two years ago, but it still happens. It is not good enough. People are put at risk. Their lives are endangered and it goes completely against the spirit of the Refugee Act. How does the Minister of State intend to deal with it? I have to hold the Minister of State responsible in terms of representing the Department involved. Why was this allowed to happen?

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Ms Burton)

I heartily agree with the Senator's concern that inappropriate media coverage of those who seek refuge on our shores from persecution in their countries of origin may be a threat to the well-being of their relatives and other connections back home. The representatives of the media should be conscious at all times of the nature of an asylum application. The basis of the applicant's case is that he or she is fleeing from persecution and, if that is the case, then exposure of the identity of the applicant may put people connected with the applicant who remain in the home country at risk of the same persecution.

Ireland has international obligations to asylum seekers under the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees. Part of the obligation which we as a society, as distinct from a State, owe to applicants for refugee status is respect for their privacy. This is vital, as it can be a matter of life or death if the right to privacy is inappropriately breached. Section 19 of the Refugee Act, 1996, puts in statutory form the protection of privacy to which asylum seekers are entitled. Freedom of expression in relation to news items about asylum seekers must be subject to the greater right of the individual asylum seeker not to be put at risk or have family and friends put at risk. The Act does not prevent the coverage of stories about asylum seekers. It is possible to cover such stories in an anonymous way without diminishing their impact; if anything, the use of anonymous techniques will reinforce to the reader or viewer the possible risks associated with identifying the asylum seeker.

Under the Act, it will in any event be possible to run stories which identify the asylum seeker if he or she and the Minister consent. The Minister's consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld, is a valuable additional protection for the asylum seeker, who may be under pressure to forgo privacy, whether that pressure be political factions related to the country of origin or simply a tabloid journalist more interested in a juicy story than in the safety of relatives back home.

The work necessary to set up the new offices and procedures envisaged by the Act is going ahead in my Department. We expect that the appointment of the Refugee Applications Commissioner will be completed shortly by the Public Services Commission and I am anxious to have that work completed to allow for the commencement of the Act as soon as possible. In the interim, I ask that the media, when dealing with stories about asylum seekers, be conscious of the sometimes life and death consequences of identification and that, in the interests of the people whose stories they are covering, they voluntarily comply with the spirit of section 19 of the Act pending its commencement.

I refer to Senator O'Toole's contribution. The capacity of the media to tell that story was not in any way enhanced by the publication of photographs of the asylum seekers. The media can tell the story; all we are seeking is restraint in relation to identification to protect people in the country of origin.

I recall an occasion when people involved in another case were identified and the Department of Foreign Affairs was contacted by the country of origin, seeking details of the people who were identified in the media and the nature of their application in this country. I share the Senator's views and I emphasise to the media that it can tell the story without putting named individuals and their relatives at home at risk.

Mr. O'Toole

I take the Minister's point and I accept her bona fides on the matter. However, a mistake occurred and it is not good enough just to ask the media to have restraint. Will the Minister assure the House that her party will circulate a copy of her statement to newspaper editors and bring this matter to their attention? It should be formally pointed out to them by the Minister.

Ms Burton

We are in the process of implementing the Act and filling the offices of Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Board. The closing date for applications in relation to the Refugee Applications Commissioner was 19 February. Interviews are under way and we expect that all the structures will be in place within the next few months. The power of the Minister under section 19 to give his or her consent to the publication of the name, in addition to the consent of the refugee himself or herself, is enforceable under the Act.

Another aspect which should be considered as the legislation comes into force is a sensitisation course for interested journalists with the Department of Justice or more appropriately the Refugee Council, an NGO which looks after the welfare of refugees, to ensure journalists know about the danger. Thoughtlessness rather than ill will led to this problem.

Mr. O'Toole

Will the Department inform the newspaper editors between now and then?

Ms Burton

We will inform them.