Ms Geraldine McGahey:

In respect of advice provided in relation to transport, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland received a complaint from an organisation in respect of racial profiling on the Border. It could not be substantiated with evidence. Getting away from that, we did seek advice as to who was issuing the policy and whose policy it was to stop a bus, for example. It is not the policy of the transport provider to stop and invite the inspectors on, whoever they might be. Whether it is the PSNI, the Garda or border control, the transport provider must stop because that is where the power lies. It is a matter for the policy of those organisations as to who they would seek evidence from to prove where they are from.

Asylum seekers in Northern Ireland gave the equality commission some serious concern. We are receiving a lot of correspondence about the dreadful circumstances in which asylum seekers are being accommodated in respect of their dietary requirements, medical care, schooling, etc. The commission is powerless to do anything. Discrimination legislation does not restrict the ability of the immigration services to discriminate against someone in the asylum and refugee programme. It is exempt from the anti-discrimination legislation in respect of race or anything else. Work needs to be done in that regard. We are trying to find a way to raise the evidence we are receiving to another platform in order to gather some kind of momentum and advocate on behalf of the group. However, it is regrettable that we have no legislative basis on which to act.