Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I attended the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants on 19 September 2016 and the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees on 20 September 2016 on behalf of the Government. Both summits have highlighted the need for international co-operation to address the growing refugee and migration crisis and I share the concern at the scale of this crisis. A total of 65 million people are estimated to be displaced, 40% of whom are children. As the committee is aware, the Government voluntarily agreed to join the EU response to this crisis and to accept 4,000 refugees under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. Progress was initially slow, and it has been slow across Europe because there were many logistical difficulties in registering the refugees, many of whom wanted to continue to Sweden and Germany and their relocation within Europe across every country. Some of the commentary has suggested this is unique to Ireland, and it is not. We are involved in a process within the EU. We are playing our part and these issues have been resolved in respect of the registration of refugees and the hot points, particularly in Greece. There are continuing problems in Italy because Italy is having problems with security vetting and does not want other countries involved in that. We are working on that issue too.

Both summits highlighted the need for international co-operation to address the growing refugee and migration crisis. The numbers are now increasing quickly, with 555 refugees having already come to Ireland. More are coming over the next few weeks. Each month, we anticipate a further intake. The aim is that between 880 and 1,000 people will have arrived before the end of this year.

Preparations are under way to bring a further 260 persons from Lebanon early in 2017 under the resettlement programme. My aim is to make a further pledge next spring to accept more refugees from those currently located in Lebanon. While the EU element for relocation has been slow, we have moved ahead to meet our commitment under resettlement, that is, people coming from refugee camps. We have to send officers out to meet the refugees to assess their various files and make arrangements. We have done that and are ahead of schedule in respect of the resettlement. That was in part to deal with the delay in relocation.

These pledges are in addition to the number of people due to come to Ireland from Greece. We have formally notified the Greek authorities that we wish to accept 1,000 relocated refugees by the end of September 2017. That programme is subject to change and acceleration as well. The success of our programme depends on international co-operation and on developing the international mechanisms that enable us to bring vulnerable people across Europe to a new home here in Ireland. We have seen now at first hand how differing systems internationally and implementation problems externally can delay a national programme. We have to operate within a system that has been agreed at EU level on responding to the crisis. That is what we are doing. We are not a front-line state - people do not arrive on our shores as they do in Greece and Italy - but we are working with the mechanisms there and want to develop and strengthen those mechanisms to tackle the refugee crisis.

Ireland co-facilitated the UN summit with Jordan, and there was much comment on the part our diplomats played in getting the refugee response framework together, which was agreed there. It is very important to have that in place. The framework sets out an extensive range of concrete actions which, once implemented, should bring about real improvements in the situation and the experience of refugees across the world. It is addressed to host countries, transit countries and third parties and covers issues such as reception, the immediate and ongoing needs of refugees, the importance of support for host countries and the action needed to achieve durable solutions. It commits countries to protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status. This includes the rights of women and girls, promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in finding solutions to refugee situations. It aims to ensure that all refugee children are receiving education within a few months of arrival in their country of resettlement. We are ahead of other countries when it comes to access to education for young people who arrive here. They have immediate access to primary and secondary level education. Another aim is to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence experienced by refugees and migrants. This is a very serious issue and women in these situations are very vulnerable. It commits to work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purpose of determining their migration status. Some countries do this; we do not, but that was part of the goal. Another is to improve the delivery of humanitarian and development assistance to the countries most affected, including through innovative multilateral financial solutions, with the goal of closing all funding gaps. Another goal is to find new homes for all refugees identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, as needing resettlement, that is, the group we have been responding to, and expand the opportunities for refugees to relocate to other countries through, for example, labour mobility or education schemes. That is an area where Ireland could play a greater role.

It is a menu for action by the international community. It is a current crisis. We need to see action now and it is intended as the foundation for a more global compact on migration. This was the first time that migration had been discussed by the General Assembly, in the same way as refugees have been discussed there. It is intended as the foundation for a global compact on migration, to be agreed in 2018, which seeks to develop a global response to the issue of migration more broadly. It names the issue of migration, which is so prevalent today with the movement of 200 million. We are well used to that issue in Ireland given our history of emigration and of migration into the country.

Ireland’s practice on resettling refugees meets the obligations of the refugee response framework. We enable refugees to access mainstream services such as health, education and social protection. This is not said often enough, although there are problems. Refugee children are enabled to attend school, for instance, from the time that they come to Ireland. We also fund resettlement workers to support the integration of refugees into their new communities. This is challenging for all front-line services but we have several hundred refugees who in the past few months have gone to live in various communities around the country and are receiving local services. They have been housed.

I would say that the UN summit process and the refugee response framework have confirmed that tackling the refugee crisis must be an international priority. This is an international priority for the years ahead. As a result, I anticipate that the Irish refugee protection programme will have to run beyond 2017. Ireland will be expected to continue to accept programme refugees in the years ahead. In light of the level of movement we are seeing, it is clear this is an ongoing crisis. Our ships are still rescuing people in the Mediterranean. The leaders' summit is intended to secure international co-operation towards three principal aims, the first of which is to increase funding to humanitarian appeals and international organisations. Ireland contributed €65 million to Syria last year and has made a contribution to the World Food Programme over a three-year period. We give a high level of international aid. The second goal is to admit more refugees through resettlement or other legal pathways. The third aim is to increase refugees’ self-reliance and inclusion through opportunities for education and legal work. We have joined the legal statement that is being issued from the leaders' summit.  That statement commits participating countries to do more on humanitarian assistance and on the resettlement of refugees. It also commits participating countries to work together in support of the development of the global compact on responsibility sharing for refugees.

As I said at the summit, and I do not think anyone would disagree, we need a multifaceted international and global response because no single country can solve this issue. This response involves working with countries of origin on conflict prevention. I cannot let today pass without calling on everybody involved to take further action to resolve the appalling situation in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria. Obviously, we need to deal with the core causes of this movement of people. In many cases, we can do this by focusing on conflict prevention. When I was at the summit, I pointed to the specific role that can be played by women and girls. If they are facilitated to join peace processes, this can lead to good and durable solutions to conflicts. I also reported on the establishment of the Irish refugee protection programme and referred to Ireland’s strong record on overseas development aid. Ireland committed €647 million to development aid in 2015, approximately €140 million of which was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance. I have already mentioned the amount of money we are contributing to Syria and the role of the Naval Service in rescuing 12,400 people. I think these summits are important as a signal of the international community’s determination to do more to address the refugee crisis and as an important next step in the international response to this issue. We certainly want to support those international efforts by providing humanitarian aid to specific areas and by vindicating our commitment within the EU to the refugee programme.