Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 July 2016
34. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts he is making to protect unaccompanied minors who are arriving in refugee camps on the Greek islands and throughout Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19226/16]
View answerBy the end of last year there were almost 90,000 unaccompanied minors registered in the European Union. According to the International Organisation for Migration, approximately 30% of the drownings that have occurred involved children. What initiatives is the Minister taking to encourage and facilitate the safe passage and relocation of unaccompanied minors?
I agree with the Deputy that the situation of unaccompanied minors is a distressing aspect of the ongoing migration crisis and there are concerns in this regard in many countries in Europe and elsewhere. While there is an acknowledged problem with the care of unaccompanied minors in parts of Greece, the Greek authorities are working with the UN High Commission for Refugees and UNICEF to provide appropriate facilities for unaccompanied minors. Since the EU-Turkey statement of 20 March this year, new arrivals on the islands, including unaccompanied minors, are taken to the hot spots where their claims can be assessed. If they are found to be admissible under the terms of the statement, they can be taken to centres on the mainland. Up to 500 asylum seekers have already been deemed admissible and moved to the mainland.
The Greek Government, working with the European Asylum Support Office, the UN High Commission for Refugees and other agencies, is currently conducting a mass pre-registration programme in the mainland refugee camps. They hope to pre-register all migrants who arrived in Greece prior to 20 March by the end of July. Once the pre-registration has taken place, the Greek Government will know where it stands in respect of the profile of all asylum seekers - age, family status, nationality, and special needs - and it will be able to devise appropriate responses, including and especially relating to the care and protection of unaccompanied minors.
Ireland has deployed seven rapid responders to Greece and the Balkans since mid-2015 through Irish Aid, our overseas development and humanitarian assistance programme managed by my Department. These experienced specialists continue to provide much needed surge capacity to our UN partners' refugee response operations on the ground, helping to improve both water supply and sanitation services in camps and other settings and the delivery of protection services to refugees, including unaccompanied minors. Three of our responders remain on deployment in Greece at this time.
Deputy Wallace tabled this question in the aftermath of a conversation he had with the Minister in regard to what specifically we might be able to do to help unaccompanied minors following our trip to Calais and Dunkirk. The Minister informed Deputy Wallace that he would contact the UN High Commission for Refugees to find out if we could take any initiatives in that regard.
The British Government, not known to be particularly radical in the midst of the Brexit debate in which there was a lot of anti-immigrant scaremongering, managed during that time to get through the so-called Dubs amendment to its immigration Bill, which will allow between 1,000 and 3,000 unaccompanied minors to be settled there. What has the Minister done in terms of going to Greece, Calais and Dunkirk to seek the putting in place of a process whereby humanitarian visas could be exercised for unaccompanied minors there?
This question has been discussed on previous occasions. What Ireland can do in these circumstances and whether it can take in more unaccompanied minors in response to what is a crisis of huge dimension is an important issue. Tusla, the child and family agency, under the auspices of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, has statutory responsibility for unaccompanied minors. I understand that my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, recently chaired a meeting of the high-level task force established to oversee the implementation of the Irish refugee protection programme, during which an approach to taking in unaccompanied minors, most likely to come from Greece, was discussed in some detail. The task force is designed to deliver a whole-of-government response to the crisis. Following this meeting, the question of an intake of unaccompanied minors under the programme is being considered by Tusla and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. I am informed that high-level contacts are ongoing between the Departments of Justice and Equality and Children and Youth Affairs and Tusla with a view to progressing Ireland's response to this issue.
In regard to the unaccompanied minors and the Minister's point that they will most likely come from Greece, I take it that he means they are most likely Syrian. Deputy Wallace raised previously with the Minister the possibility of investigating what could be done in respect of the large number of unaccompanied minors coming from Afghanistan. The Irish Red Cross, which acts as an intermediary between residents and Tusla, has received a steady stream of offers from Irish citizens to assist unaccompanied minors and take them into their homes at no additional cost to the State. I do not understand why the Minister has not taken any initiatives in that regard. He indicated to Deputy Wallace that he would write to the UN to find out if something of this nature could be done, given a previous response to the effect that it could not be done. Has the Minister written to the UN, what response has he received and where do we stand in that regard? Why would we not do that? Would that not be the best option?
The response is twofold in so far as there is an EU response and an Irish national response. As stated earlier, the Greek authorities are working closely with the UN High Commission for Refugees and UNICEF to provide appropriate facilities for unaccompanied minors. The European Asylum Support Office is also working closely with the authorities with a view to an appropriate response. In April, the European Commission provided €83 million under an emergency assistance instrument to provide for living conditions for refugees in Greece, with funding being made available through UNHCR.
In the context of the Irish national response, Tusla is expected to respond with formal proposals regarding its capacity to accept an intake of unaccompanied minors under the programme mentioned earlier. Once that response has been received, I understand decisions will be taken speedily.
