Mr. Alan O'Leary:

I thank the Chair and committee members. We believe the reforms contained within the EU pact on migration and asylum reflect an effort to limit access to protection for refugees across Europe. The reforms will result in fewer safeguards for fundamental rights, significant provisions for detention and reduced access to legal advice. The following are some of the Irish Refugee Council's main concerns.

Border procedures, accelerated procedures and legal fiction of non-entry curtail full access to a just and humane asylum procedure. They create a space and systems with less procedural safeguards where fundamental rights may not be observed, and systematic and extended detention, or de facto detention, may be facilitated. The accelerated border procedure risks overlooking those who are most vulnerable and in need of our protection. These cases often require legal advice and careful consideration. People who arrive without documentation and those who have been forced to cross a border illegally will be subject to a mandatory border procedure and may be detained or have their movements restricted. This will include applicants from countries with high rates of refugee declarations, including Afghanistan and Somalia, who often have no alternative other than to travel by irregular means, without passports, or use substitute documents. The pact penalises people who have no other options.

People who arrive from countries with a recognition rate of 20% or less will be subject to the same procedure. In the context of an average Irish refugee recognition rate of approximately 35%, a recognition rate of 20% reflects a substantial need for protection. We are concerned that the pact overrules the right of appeal. Deadlines are unrealistic and appeals are not automatically suspensive. This means applicants may be returned to a country where they face persecution or harm and before a final decision is made on their protection application.

This would be a violation of the principle of non-refoulement. In Ireland, around 35% of appeals result in a grant of a protection status and that figure is 20% for countries designated as safe.

Limited vulnerability assessments during the screening procedure, which the Minister states will be replicated in Irish law, will not be sufficient to identify particularly vulnerable people and, coupled with provision for detention, could have significant consequences for the rights and well-being of vulnerable people. We have serious doubts that applicants will receive adequate vulnerability assessments within the seven days or less allowed for in the screening regulation before they are possibly detained, subject to a border or accelerated procedure, and returned or deported to a country where they may face persecution or harm. The outcome of the screening procedure has no appeal remedy.

The fast-tracking measures outlined in the pact could fail to recognise the individual circumstances and needs of vulnerable applicants and deny protection to those who need it. Families with children are not exempt from border procedures and can be detained. We are concerned that unaccompanied minors may be incorrectly identified as adults and erroneously subject to the border procedure. In Ireland, failures in the identification of unaccompanied minors have resulted in children sleeping rough and sharing accommodation with adults for extended periods. The border procedure does not allow people to apply for other forms of protection, such as humanitarian permission to remain, which could especially impact survivors of human trafficking and stateless persons, especially as they will have limited access to legal representation.

Over the past year, at EU level, the percentage of asylum applications that received a protection status fluctuated at around 48%. In Ireland, that figure has been around 30% at first instance. For so-called safe countries of origin, the recognition rate is about 20%. Given the very rigorous consideration of protection applications at first instance and appeal, this shows people have real protection needs which are recognised by the State. Underlying our concerns is the fact the EU’s share of the world refugee population has decreased from 70% in 1993 to under 20% since 2018. Approximately 74% of the world’s refugees are hosted by low- and middle-income countries outside the EU.

While the pact began with good intentions, it has been gradually eroded by various member states' hardening positions. We are not opposed to harmonisation and common standards. However, if anything, we need compliance with the existing body of legislation rather than a continued need for reform.