On Thursday, officials from the Department of Justice gave a presentation in Leinster House on the terms governing the amnesty for “undocumented migrants” which begins on January 31. Applicants will be able to submit their claims online via a Department portal. Documents accepted as proof include utility bills, employment details, and any correspondence proving contact with the state during the qualifying period.
Part of the process includes a section in which the applicant must state whether they have been convicted of a criminal offence either in Ireland or in another jurisdiction. One of the sub sections requests that the applicant state whether they have “ever been involved in, supported or encouraged terrorist activities in any country.” Presumably none of the responses will be taken in good faith, and the Gardaí will conduct their own inquiries into such matters?
In the section outlining who exactly is eligible under the amnesty, Siobhan Barron of the Migration Policy Unit refers to the fact that there are“No official statistics, but MRCI (Migrant Rights Centre, Ireland) estimated that there could be between 15,000 to 17,000 including 2,000 to 3,000 children.”
It is odd that they are sticking to this guess as when Gary Kavanagh of Gript contacted the MRCI last August they were unable to provide any evidence for their claim. In fact, they had told the Commission on the Future of Policing in January 2018 that there might be as many as 26,000 adults and 6,000 children who are “undocumented.”
Which is it? 17,000? 32,000? 103,476? No one knows, is how many.
Surely a state department which is making such a profound – and dare one say it costly – change to the criteria governing legal residency in the state might have attempted to do its own research into all of this?
Why would they even find themselves dependent on an NGO that clearly has “skin in the game” and which itself has no idea where it got the numbers from? Would the Department of Agriculture for example accept submissions from the Irish Farmers Association or the ICMSA or the ICSA on how many cattle or sheep or even acres a lad might have for the purposes of claiming the Single Farm Payment or a grant?
“Oh, yeah Mick and Mary have 400 head on their 25 acres outside Clifden. Sure, there’s no need for you to be sending some lad from Dublin or Brussels down now to count them all. At all, at all.”
And speaking of costs, the new criteria include a stipulation that there is “no requirement for applicants to demonstrate that they would not be a financial burden on the state.” So much for the new to the parish myth that all those living here illegally are professional uilleann pipers and doing nixers as brain surgeons.
Given that this scheme also features all the other add ons that have been proposed in relation to providing public housing for refugees – including now arrivals who have had their applications for asylum turned down – we are talking about potentially a lot of money, and an even longer wait for people living here already on the housing lists
Fine Gael and the Greens and Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin may know how you can house everyone legitimately here AND a completely unknown number of randomers without robbing one marginalized Peter to pay another even worser marginalized Paul who gets bonus points for being racially oppressed. Damned if I can see it.
Another aspect of the presentation that leaps to attention is the clause that states that:
“The scheme will allow for a short period of absence from the State in the undocumented period to be disregarded for those who would otherwise qualify by meeting the undocumented residency years requirement.”
This will be allowed up to a maximum of 60 days for “undocumented,” and up to 90 days for those who were here on “short term tourist permission” but who decided to stay here, having checked out some other countries to do some window pricing on benefits perhaps?
Surely if someone was genuinely fleeing a country where they felt that they were in danger if they returned to, then they would be happy to find themselves in a safe country? I mean you would not really consider going back to that country to see the Cup final or maybe go and live in London for a while. Surely?
And yet, people who have gone back to the country they are “fleeing” and who have taken such time out in other places are now to not only have the fact that they are here illegally in the first place ignored, but also that they didn’t even bother to stay here all the time they were claiming to be in desperate need of protection by the Irish state.
Not to mention the fact that in almost all cases previously people who claim asylum here have travelled through other countries that are equally safe as Ireland, but perhaps not as “racist” if we are to believe some of the narrative pushed by the professional state funded migrancy and racial sector.
And of course, if anyone for some pretty-out-there reason does not initially qualify for the amnesty, there is always the Appeals Process. Sure where would we be without out it? There would not be a tofu sandwich or a latte sold between the Four Courts and the Ha’penny Bridge if it wasn’t for the endless appeals and all the rest of the intricate legalities that keep the migrancy legal business in Aviva tickets and school fees.
Enjoy it, because you’ll be getting the bill.