Written Answers. - Refugees Asylum Seekers.
Alan Shatter
Ceist:
8
Mr. Shatter
asked the
Minister for Justice
the new procedures, if any, she proposes introducing to guarantee rights of hearing, appeal, access to legal advice and access to the courts for refugees and asylum seekers as promised in the Programme for a Partnership Government 1993-1997.
John Connor
Ceist:
46
Mr. Connor
asked the
Minister for Justice
when she intends to introduce legislation to ensure the application of fair procedures for persons seeking asylum in this country; and if she will make a statement regarding the right to asylum seekers to legal advice and interpretation at all stages and to have access to UNHCR, and to appeal their cases.
I propose to take Priority Question No. 8 and Question No. 46 together.
The Deputies will be aware of the commitments contained in the Programme for a Partnership Government 1993-97 in relation to refugees and asylum seekers and I can confirm that I will be taking whatever action may be appropriate in order to meet these commitments.
However, I think it appropriate, to make the point that Government policy on political asylum is and has been in accordance with our international commitments arising under the 1951 United Nations Convention on the status of refugees, as amended by the 1967 New York Protocol. In this regard, a procedure was agreed in 1985 with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) providing the administrative structure for the processing of applications for refugee status. The arrangements provide a comprehensive framework within which the examination of an application for political asylum takes place as well as providing for the participation of the UNHCR and the Department of Foreign Affairs in the consideration of such applications. The existing procedure was endorsed further by UNHCR in 1991.
The 1985 Agreement with UNHCR provides for the following:
(a) asylum seekers will not be refused entry or removed from the State until given an opportunity to present a case fully;
(b) every application is examined in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention;
(c) this does not prevent humanitarian considerations being considered which might justify permission to remain in the State;
(d) every facility, including interpreters where possible, is provided to help an applicant in making a case;
(e) the need for confidentiality and privacy is given high priority;
(f) an applicant is informed that he may contact UNHCR or a local representative;
(g) each applicant is given a personal interview;
(h) UNHCR and the Department of Foreign Affairs are consulted on each application.
This formal procedural agreement with UNHCR has been found by the Courts to be legally binding.
In summary, therefore, while accepting the necessity to take full account of comments emanating from reputable sources concerning the practice followed in asylum cases — and I have already made my position clear in this regard — it is instructive to recall the extent of this country's extensive compliance with international requirements.
It is necessary also, I believe, to strike a note of caution concerning the scope for fresh initiatives on this subject. No matter how one deals with the question of asylum seekers, one has to face the reality that the regulatory regime in place — and this is the experience in other jurisdictions also — will be tested on an ongoing basis and that decisions will therefore fall to be made by the authorities which, even though fully in compliance with the law, will be the subject of controversy. It would be misleading if I, or anybody else, were to pretend that procedural changes would ever get away from the reality that, if the law is to have any meaning at all, some applications by asylum seekers simply have to be refused.
