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Refugee Resettlement Programme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

Questions (273)

Niall Collins

Question:

273. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will report in tabular form on the commitments made on refugees; the timeline for accommodating same; the number of refugees who have arrived here to date in 2018 under the resettlement and relocation mechanisms; the commitments made to accept unaccompanied minors here; the number of unaccompanied minors who have been accommodated to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17594/18]

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Written answers

The Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) in September 2015 as part of the State’s humanitarian response to the EU migration crisis and  agreed to accept up to 4,000 asylum seekers and refugees into Ireland under EU relocation and Resettlement programmes. Ireland voluntarily opted into the two EU Council Decisions on Relocation (2015/1523) and (2015/1601), which provided for the EU wide relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece.

By the end of the two-year EU Relocation Programme in September 2017, across the Union, a total of 37,000 asylum seekers were eligible and registered for relocation in Italy and Greece, of which 78% (approximately 29,000) had been relocated to other EU Member States including Ireland. This is significantly lower than the 160,000 expected to be made available under the programme for relocation and resettlement.

Notwithstanding this, Ireland has remained committed to the target of 4,000 refugees and asylum-seekers and has taken its own steps to meet those commitments. The arrival of Ireland's relocation persons was completed in March 2018 with 1,022 people having arrived from Greece and work continues to house such persons in communities. 267 people have arrived under relocation in 2018.

Under Resettlement, Ireland pledged to admit 520 people under resettlement by 2017. We surpassed that figure in 2016 and this enabled the Government to further increase its commitment under the programme. A total of 1,040 persons under the European Commission’s July 2015 Resettlement scheme will have been admitted by the end of this year, which is  a doubling of the original commitment of 520.

792 people have already arrived and the remaining refugees are due to arrive in the coming months. The European Commission recognises Ireland as being one of only seven EU Member States to have fulfilled their resettlement pledges from the July 2015 Agreement.

In a further gesture of humanitarian assistance towards the most vulnerable caught up in the migration crisis and following a debate in the Dáil, the Government also committed to taking up to 200 unaccompanied minors (UAMs) from France who were previously resident in the migrant camp at Calais. Unlike any other Member State, Ireland also offered these young people programme refugee status.

Following 13 missions to France, a total of 41 young people ultimately expressed an interest and were assessed as suitable to come to Ireland under the programme. They have all arrived in Ireland and this programme has been completed. These young people were taken in under the care of Tusla who have statutory responsibility for minors. The IRPP has also accepted 6 unaccompanied minors from Greece under the Relocation Programme. Further initiatives to respond to the needs of unaccompanied minors are under consideration at present.

To address the remaining balance of approximately 1,800 people under the IRPP, additional resettlement pledges have been made to take a further 945 refugees from Lebanon between 2018 (345) and 2019 (600). A new Family Reunification Humanitarian Admission Programme (FRHAP) is being established and will be open for applications shortly. This has a capacity to welcome up to 530 people by the end of 2019.

The Government is also keeping under review its options to further respond to our humanitarian obligation and to meet the target of 4,000.

A breakdown of the number of unaccompanied minors under the Calais Special Project and Greece is outlined in the following tables.

Calais Special Project

Year

Number

2017

30

2018

11

Total

41

IRPP from Greece

Year

Number

2016

4

2017

2

Total

6

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