Welcome for Ukrainians reveals ‘hypocrisy’ of Irish immigration system?

 

It is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.  The issue of racial disparities in the treatment of refugees from Ukraine, Syria, and other countries has been in the news.

Sorcha Pollak of the Irish Times reports that the warm welcome given to Ukrainian refugees by the Irish government proves that the state can provide a more compassionate support system for asylum seekers, according to a leading migrant rights activist:

"Lucky Khambule, co-founder of the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, said the decision to immediately support Ukrainians fleeing the war while migrants from Middle Eastern and African countries wait years for decisions on their asylum claims reveals a “glaring inequality” in the immigration system.

`We appreciate what the Government is doing in response to the Ukrainian crisis but we’re feeling the hypocrisy,' he said.

`They’ve bent their backs over to help people in this European crisis which proves to use there was always more they could do. If the attitude was right they would find spaces for asylum seekers very quickly.'"

Khambule added: “We’ve had the Syrian refugee crisis, the Afghan refugee crisis, there’s Yemen, there’s Ethiopia, there’s Libya – all these are conflict zones but we’ve never seen an effort from the Government like this."

KJ