Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The unprecedented numbers of migrants and refugees fleeing war torn regions in the Middle East and north Africa present a serious humanitarian and political challenge to Europe. Ireland must play its part in assisting those in need of refuge, both at home and by providing help in front-line camps. Refugees based in Ireland and the communities in which they are placed must be afforded the supports they require to fully integrate into society.

We must work with our European Union colleagues and the international community to help bring an end to the civil war that is destabilising Syria and generating the refugee crisis. The Fianna Fáil Party supports a significant expansion of aid to refugees in camps in the Middle East, including the release of further EU funding for this purpose. In addition, Irish funding for this purpose should be doubled to €1.2 million.

We must stand with others in fighting against extremists who are using this crisis to promote fear and distrust between groups. We insist that Europe remains true to its democratic and inclusive values. We should also continue to accommodate refugees in Ireland as part of a comprehensive international response.

The Fianna Fáil Party has been proactive on this issue from the start. Last summer, our spokesperson on European affairs, Deputy Timmy Dooley, visited Calais. In the wake of his experience, he urged the Government to hold a national policy forum on migration to develop Ireland's response to the escalating crisis and seek to host a European summit on the issue. We have continually stressed the need for strong leadership on this issue. Ireland knows more than most countries the compassion that other countries have shown to our citizens over many decades.

There is no doubt but the Syrian conflict is central to the refugee crisis and to end it would do much to alleviate the crisis. While resolving this conflict is critical, a key priority must be to provide aid to its victims. The humanitarian crisis in Syria has become a migration crisis. More than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 11 million have been displaced, while approximately 4.5 million Syrians have left for other countries where they live in desperate and depressing circumstances. People in search of a safe and secure future are leaving their homes and the refugee camps. The pressures being faced in Europe are the unavoidable consequence of five years of mounting misery. People are making traumatic and often deadly journeys because they believe they have no other option, as they have been cast out of their homes by brutal players on both sides of a terrible conflict.

Given the scale of the crisis and the dreadful humanitarian disaster involved, the outcome of the recent EU summit is at best insufficient and at worst reprehensible. The central agreement at the recent EU summit concentrated exclusively on trying to block the main migration route to Europe through more strenuous border controls. This objective is to be accomplished chiefly through Turkey stopping people from leaving, in return for which a series of long­standing Turkish demands are to be accommodated. The focus should be on ensuring appropriate conditions are in place for refugees but, sadly, this is not the priority. The United Nations and relief agencies still experience difficulty in raising funds, stretched as they are to the limit as they seek to deliver basic shelter, food and safe water for millions.

As my party leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, has pointed out previously, all countries have a basic moral duty to step up and do more. While Ireland is doing commensurately more than others, this is not sufficient. We should review our support programme, both our direct aid to organisations and the funding we provide through international bodies. We should work with partners in the European Union to deliver at least basic standards of provision. The deal with Turkey is most unlikely to deliver significant benefits and runs the real risk of causing grave damage to the fundamental principles of the European Union.

While attempting to dissuade people from making high risk sea journeys is not unreasonable, to link this objective to visa free travel for Turkish citizens and the acceleration of accession talks for Turkey sets a dangerous example. As our spokesperson on foreign affairs, Deputy Brendan Smith, has made clear, Fianna Fáil will oppose any measure which goes against clear legal obligations. The European Union cannot undermine the core values it demands of member states and countries that enjoy automatic rights to access the Union.

Many criticisms have been made of the EU-Turkey deal and it is difficult to disagree with the following view expressed by the Immigrant Council of Ireland: "Attempts to sell the EU-Turkey deal as a solution to this crisis are fooling no-one - not only are there very serious questions about whether the deal violates human rights but it has had no impact whatsoever on the longer routes where most of the lives are lost". NASC, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre, which works with migrants and ethnic minorities in Cork, stated the following: "If EU leaders think that by shutting Europe's door on people that their need to flee will end, they are demonstrating a profound and deliberate misunderstanding of the level of human suffering and terror felt by men, women and children fleeing war and conflict". The Irish Refugee Council stated:

There is therefore a real possibility of one of two consequences arising from the EU-Turkey deal on returns to Turkey: either Greece will grant refugee status to the majority of those who have or will arrive in the country or they will be returning prima facierefugees to Turkey where they will face an uncertain future. Turkey has not only already accommodated 2.7 million refugees, many without the ability to support themselves, it has also not signed the Protocol to the Refugee Convention and is itself facing challenges to its own security. The agreement to provide resettlement for every Syrian national registered in Turkey for every one returned from Greece itself ("one in, one out") is alarming and has very little chance of success.

It is highly unlikely that this deal will play a pivotal part in reducing the number of refugees seeking to journey to Europe.

It is clear that Europe is facing many challenges, but the crisis cannot be used as an excuse to discard principles on which the Union was founded, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights and dignity.

We must work collectively and humanely to tackle this awful crisis, both the consequences and the causes. Our response will play a major part in defining whether we are true to our values or whether we allow the fringes to corrupt them. The use of tear gas and water cannon by the Hungarian Government last year was an outrageous attack on vulnerable people.

Obviously there is not unlimited capacity to provide for any person who wishes to come to Europe. However, we have an obligation to provide humanitarian refuge from the most brutal conflict. Fianna Fáil pledges to live up to that obligation and to work in this new Dáil to that effect. We were constructive in our opposition in the last Dáil, especially for example in regard to the International Protection Bill and I look forward to working with all parties in the Thirty-second Dáil to alleviate this crisis and to help migrants make better lives.

I wish to make two further points. I concur with the comments by the Minister for Justice, Deputy Fitzgerald, regarding the Irish Defence Forces and commend their efforts in rescuing over 8,000 refugees. Their mission was an outstanding success and reflected well on our country's input. We were all very proud of what they achieved.

While we have been discussing the EU crisis in regard to Syria, we must also be mindful of the community of undocumented migrants who have come to this country. We discussed this issue in the Chamber during the previous Dáil sessions and in the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. These may be people who entered this country with documents, but who have overstayed their visas or work permits and now find themselves undocumented. They are effectively in limbo. The support organisations estimate there may be from 30,000 to 50,000 of these people. Primarily, they are working and contributing to the economy and filling gaps in the labour market. It behoves this Dáil and the next Government to try to regularise their situation because they have been here a significant amount of time. In one respect they are trapped here as they cannot go home to visit families without running the risk of not being allowed to return to this country. They have put down roots here and are working and contributing. For these reasons and to ensure these workers are not exploited, we should try to regularise the gaps in the labour market and shortcomings of some employers.

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