Immigrant groups are critical of the family reunification system, which they say is unclear and laborious, writes Rúadhán Mac Cormaic, Migration Correspondent.
Irish Times
Saturday, July 26, 2008
THE TREATMENT of a Somali woman who was separated from her family for three years was "scandalous and unacceptable" and amounted to a "gross act of maladministration", Fine Gael's spokesman on children Alan Shatter said.
"The handling of this family's visa application is a scandal and totally unacceptable, and the apology issued in court on behalf of Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern in no way exonerates him or his ministerial predecessors," Shatter said.
"A 'profound systems failure' is a succinct way of describing to the court what occurred, but it is entirely unsatisfactory. This is a gross and unacceptable act of maladministration . . . What occurred in this case is not so much a systems failure but a consistent pattern of behaviour by the Department of Justice under the responsibility of a succession of ministers for justice."
Shatter said there was an "ongoing and concerted failure" to provide any reasonable and substantive response to a series of letters written by the woman to the department.
He continued: "This family's circumstances may be unique, but the department's failure is typical of the manner in which it deals with inquiries on asylum and visa issues, not only from applicants, but also from members of the Oireachtas. It is part of a pattern of failure by successive justice ministers and the department to provide substantial relevant information in response to relevant questions."
Shatter said the Minister must taken immediate action to review all outstanding asylum and visa files in his department to ensure this "disturbing case" is never repeated. He must also publicly state the result of any such review.
Anyone recognised as a refugee here is entitled to apply to the Department of Justice to have direct family members join them.
This includes the spouse, unmarried children under 18 and, if the refugee is a minor, his or her parents.
The Minister may, at his discretion, permit reunion of refugees with "dependent" family members - possibly a grandparent, parent, sibling, child or grandchild.
Immigrant groups are critical of the reunification system, which they say is unclear and laborious.
The Department says applications currently take up to 24 months to be processed and there is a backlog of 2,000.
The RIS, the Refugee Information Service, welcomed Ahern's apology but said it was imperative that efficient procedures and adequate resources were put in place to cut waiting times for family reunion, which it claimed could currently exceed 30 months.
"Ireland is also failing to live up to its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that any application by a child or his/her parents to enter a state for the purposes of family reunification must be dealt with in a positive, humane and expeditious manner," said acting director Catherine Kenny.
"The RIS is aware of applications that have been made over 3½ years ago and have not yet received a final decision from the department . . . Applications were processed to completion in under one year as recently as 2004, so there is no reason why such a timeframe could not be achieved again."
On behalf of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, senior solicitor Hilkka Becker said the department's failure to acknowledge receipt of letters and its delays in processing applications were not exceptions.
"In this case, the family affected was in a particularly vulnerable position. While the Immigrant Council welcomes the Minister's apology to the family involved, this case highlights the very real human consequences caused by the mess our immigration system is currently in."
Source: Irish Times, July 26, 2008