Dr. Salome Mbugua:

I want to start with the Garda. There is a significant lack of trust between the youth and the Garda. It is important that the youth feel protected and safe but most of the time - Mr. Joyce spoke about racial profiling - it is a big problem among the youth, in particular, black youth, where we even hear them being labelled as black gangs. They are even labelled to that extent.

There are also some areas in Dublin that have been blacklisted. Even when they are seen walking around as young people in the area from three upwards, they are targeted, they are stopped sometimes and they are questioned. Most of them would not even go to report. I recommend that the Garda and the criminal justice system change the approach that they use because sometimes it comes out as racist towards a specific group, which is quite unfortunate. Also, they have to be very sensitive in the way they deal, for example, with different ethnic groups and religious groups because we have people with diverse backgrounds and diverse ethnicities as well.

It would be important to work with youth projects, especially from the ethnic minorities, and from the black minority as well, to be able to ensure that they are engaging at the community level. In particular, community leaders can help them to shape the work with the youth as well.

Previously, my organisation indicated the importance of having a task force for the migrant youth so that they can be able to be supported in a meaningful way by first understanding what are the key issues that are affecting the youth, and then reporting to the criminal justice system as well, because it does not know about so many issues. We have so many youth ending up in the courts because they do not understand consent. Consent is a big issue now in Ireland that they should know and understand. They do not understand so many things because they are coming also from a different, poor background. They feel they are segregated and targeted and there needs to be a proper way of dealing with it. A task force for migrant youth would be important, not only for ourselves as migrants but also for the State to be able to ensure that they shape the rights of these youth in a better way rather than bringing problems into the future. Garda engagement, in an approachable way and in a manner that is understanding to the youth rather than just reacting to them and making assumptions as well, is very important.