The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council spoke about the the new EU Migration Pact.
Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, said the ‘devil was in the details’ in the new EU Migration Pact.
The EU Migration Pact came into force on Friday, June 12, two years after it was adopted by member states and the European Parliament.
The pact has received much criticism from refugee organisations, who said its legal safeguards for those seeking protection are not sufficient.
Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Mr Henderson explained that the new screening process applicants go through should happen within seven days but it was uncertain it would.
“We have real concerns that it's going to be difficult to access support and difficult to get legal advice because of the speed with which you go through the system,” he explained.
“The issue is that if you applied for asylum today, you'd have your application considered very, very quickly. It's going to be very difficult for you to get legal advice, which is an integral part of applying for protection.
“This isn't a simple administrative process. It can be a life or death process.
“The inspectorate body hasn't been appointed yet. If you’re a judge sitting on the appeals body, you're not actually a judge, you're a tribunal member, you're going to be expected to get through 250 cases a year.”
Tents belonging to homeless people. Mary-Lou MacDonald and Sinn Féin have said that this new pact undermines Irish sovereignty, and they say decisions on migration should be taken by the people of this country alone.
The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, Nick Henderson told The Hard Shoulder that the harsh effects of the legislative process going through the door, was of great concern, and is practice with this government.
“If a person is recognised as a refugee at the other end of the system, and that's if they get through it, the new rules today around family reunification are that you would not be able to apply for family unification for two years.
“You have to apply, and then you would have to show near complete independence from the state for the previous two plus years.
"That's not a requirement of this EU legislation, and that's Minister O'Callaghan and Minister Brophy bringing this in themselves.
“I think it could break apart families, and that's an additional concern.”
Main Image: Garda National Immigration Bureau. Picture by: Alamy.
