{"id":18729,"date":"2024-11-25T00:14:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T00:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18729"},"modified":"2024-11-25T00:14:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T00:14:57","slug":"expelled-the-same-day-ireland-hardens-illegal-immigration-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18729","title":{"rendered":"Expelled the same day: Ireland hardens illegal immigration response"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WATCH: Irish police stop a bus that has crossed the border from Northern Ireland<\/figcaption><\/p>\n
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The three Gardai – Irish police officers – walk down the rows of passengers on the bus, a few kilometres south of the border with Northern Ireland. <\/p>\n

Observing this is the head of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, Det Ch Supt Aidan Minnock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they don’t have status to be in Ireland, we bring them to Dublin,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey’re removed on a ferry back to the UK on the same day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asylum applications in Ireland have risen by nearly 300% so far this year compared to the same period five years ago. A spike in arrivals from the UK has been driven by various factors, among these the UK\u2019s tougher stance post-Brexit, including the fear of deportations to Rwanda, as well as Ireland\u2019s relatively healthy economy.<\/p>\n

Most asylum seekers coming from the UK to the Republic of Ireland enter the country from Northern Ireland, as – unlike the airport or ferry routes – there is no passport control. The Garda checks along the 500km-long (310 miles) border are the only means of stopping illegal entry. <\/p>\n

Det Ch Supt Minnock told the BBC that 200 people had been returned to the UK this year as a result of these checkpoints, thought to be only a small fraction of those crossing the porous border illegally.<\/p>\n

More than 2,000 people who arrived in Ireland illegally have been issued deportation orders so far this year, a 156% increase on the same period in 2023. However, only 129 of those people (just over 6%) are confirmed to have since left the state. The government has said it will begin chartered deportation flights in the coming months, and free up more immigration Gardai from desk work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Det Ch Supt Aidan Minnock says he understands what motivates people to seek asylum<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Onboard the coach near the border, the Gardai question a young man about where he lives. He is Algerian – a student, he says. The police are suspicious and he is taken to the detention vehicle while his identity is checked.<\/p>\n

A veteran of war crimes investigations in post-war Bosnia – as part of an EU police team – Det Ch Supt Minnock knows well the violence and poverty that drives migration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is growing at such a scale because of the conflict and instability right across the world,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Public concern over immigration<\/a> is closely linked to Ireland\u2019s chronic housing problem. The Republic now has the worst record in the EU for housing young people.<\/p>\n

The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, Nick Henderson, says the crisis is a \u201cperfect storm\u201d, created in part by the failure to build enough housing stock over decades, and a government unprepared for the upsurge in asylum seekers – known in Ireland as International Protection Applicants (IPAs) – needing help with accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The government] is only able to provide accommodation through private contractors. That, coupled with an increase in the number of people seeking protection in Ireland, and against the background of a housing crisis has meant, in effect, that Ireland’s asylum reception system has really collapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In nearly three years, the number of asylum seekers accommodated by the state\u2019s International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) has more than quadrupled – from 7,244 to 32,649 people. Over 100,000 Ukrainians, who were given a separate status, also sought refuge in Ireland during that time.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of international protection applicants – some already with asylum status in Ireland, others waiting to be processed – have been sent to communities around the country, accommodated in hotels, former schools, apartments, even large tented camps.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s housing shortage means that even those granted asylum are struggling to leave the temporary system as others arrive. Nearly 1,000 people are now living in tented accommodation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rows of tents housing asylum seekers pitched along Dublin’s Grand Canal in May this year<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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This makeshift response has generated resentment. In the village of Dundrum, County Tipperary – population 221 – a group of locals attempted to block the arrival of asylum seekers at the gates of <\/b>a former hotel in August. The proposal to house up to 277 people at Dundrum House, which hasn\u2019t operated as a hotel since 2015, would double the local population. Locals worry that it will be a permanent fixture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can our government not engage properly with us?\u201d asks Andrea Crowe, a local teacher and protester who has frequently spoken in public. She cites concerns over housing, health and education provision for the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Protester Andrea Crowe feels the government failed to consult with the community before sending the asylum seekers to Dundrum House<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The protest outside Dundrum House has been there for more than 180 days<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Since July, there has been a 24-hour protest outside the hotel. Ms Crowe, whose family once owned the Dundrum House hotel, accuses the government of failing to consult with the community – a common complaint around the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we not be concerned?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The IPAS community currently living at Dundrum House is made up of about 80 women and children. There is also a separate group of Ukrainian families, welcomed after the Russian invasion in February 2022. <\/p>\n

Several locals told us they feared that single men – who make up 35% of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland so far this year – would eventually replace the women and children, although there so far is no evidence to suggest this is planned in Dundrum.<\/p>\n

Local builder, Martin Barry, cites the housing crisis as a key reason for his protest, particularly the plight of his eldest son. \u201cMy own young fella, he can’t afford a place to rent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Martin Barry is one of a rotating group of about a dozen people who have been protesting outside Dundrum House<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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But Martin Barry also speaks to deeper fears of change in some rural communities. The dance hall where he met his wife has closed. The local pub is for sale. There were hopes Dundrum House would be reopened and used by the local community. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the worry of what’s coming down the line,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

We meet two South African women given refuge at Dundrum House. Both were sent from their accommodation in Dublin – 180km (110 miles) away – to make way for newer arrivals into the capital, some of whom were sleeping in tents on the streets.<\/p>\n

The women ask to remain anonymous. \u201cLerato\u201d had been in Dublin for a year. \u201cI had integrated with society, and made friends. My child was attending school and I was comfortable.\u201d Her friend \u201cKayla\u201d speaks of being isolated in Dundrum, a farming community with limited transport amenities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These two women say they were moved to Dundrum from Dublin at five hours’ notice <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Far-right parties show scant support in opinion polls. Immigration worries are likely to be expressed in support for independent candidates. But online, far-right agitators stoke fear. There have been violent riots<\/a> and arson attacks on sites meant to house, or rumoured to house, asylum seekers, and refugees have been attacked in their tents on Dublin\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n

A common conspiracy theory is that migrants are being \u201cplanted\u201d in Ireland as part of a plot to dominate Irish people and destroy their culture.<\/p>\n

We saw two posters referring to a \u201cplantation\u201d at the Dundrum House protest. The now-closed online GoFundMe Page for Dundrum referred to Ireland\u2019s \u201cindigenous\u201d population fighting \u201cfor our very existence\u201d and the government \u201cflooding communities with asylum seekers\u201d.<\/p>\n

The page – which raised more than \u20ac3,000 (\u00a32,500) – was set up by a local businessman. He turns out to have posted antisemitic, Islamophobic and anti-vaccine conspiracist material on social media.<\/p>\n

We ask Andrea Crowe, one of the prominent voices of the Dundrum protest, if she is comfortable with such a person being involved? Ms Crowe says she does not \u201cfollow social media much\u201d and it is not up to her to manage other people\u2019s reactions. But she says she\u2019s \u201cnot comfortable with it\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cStop the immigration plantation of Ireland\u201d reads one poster at Dundrum <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Others in County <\/b>Tipperary welcome asylum seekers. Some 17 groups came together under the slogan \u201cTipperary Welcomes\u201d after the Dundrum protest began. <\/p>\n

John Browne, a member of the community council, says the issue divides people. \u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with it because we’re relatively wealthy, and the situation is pretty bad in parts of Africa and where most of these people are coming from.\u201d <\/p>\n

But he disagrees strongly with the numbers involved in small places like Dundrum. \u201cIt imbalances the community. And it’s no good for the people coming in, because there’s nothing here for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

We caught up with Ireland\u2019s Minister for Integration, Roderic O\u2019Gorman, while he was campaigning in Dublin for the General Election, due to be held on 29 November. He now canvasses votes with two police guards after being assaulted by a man protesting against immigration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Roderic<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ireland\u2019s Minister for Integration, Roderic O\u2019Gorman, says the state is engaging more with local communities<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Mr O\u2019Connor says many areas welcome asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are communities all over the place who are actually embracing and supporting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But he accepts some failures. \u201cI recognise in the initial parts of our response, there were times where there wasn’t that level of engagement that we need,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

There are now Community Engagement Teams responsible for liaising with residents, although the protesters we spoke to in Dundrum say they have had only one meeting with a team and are still no wiser about the long-term plans for the hotel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The dance hall in Dundrum has now closed – the village pub is for sale<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Official policy is hardening. Ukrainian asylum seekers who arrived amid widespread public sympathy and were given special benefits, recently saw these slashed from \u20ac232 (\u00a3190) to \u20ac38.80 (\u00a332) per week – a cut of 83%. <\/p>\n

South Africans now need visas to enter the country. A visa loophole which allowed Jordanians – at one point the largest group of asylum seekers in Ireland – to enter from <\/b>the UK has been closed.<\/p>\n

Concern over immigration has so far not translated into electoral support for far-right parties. Nick Henderson at the Refugee Council believes this need not be inevitable in Ireland. \u201cCommunities want to welcome people, but they need resources. They need communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republic\u2019s image as a stable and progressive democracy won\u2019t change in this electoral cycle. But the rise in far-right populism internationally is a warning for the future \u2013 of how concern over immigration can be made a focus for other discontents and create turbulent politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WATCH: Irish police stop a bus that has crossed the border from Northern Ireland The three Gardai – Irish police officers – walk down the rows of passengers on the bus, a few kilometres south of the border with Northern Ireland. Observing this is the head of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, Det Ch Supt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}