Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join in the welcome to the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, and I congratulate him. I welcome the support expressed across the House for this motion. I am standing in for Senator Maurice Cummins so I am Acting Leader in proposing the motion. I know Senator Cummins very much welcomes the support too.

I welcome the commitment shown by the Government undertaking to take 4,000 refugees in light of the current refugee crisis. I welcome the huge outpouring of compassion and empathy for the appalling plight of the refugees we have seen crossing the Mediterranean Sea and over land through Turkey and Greece and up through Croatia in recent months. My own family came to this country to seek refuge in 1946 when my grandfather arrived with my father as a young child so we are not very far removed from migration ourselves. With our own history we should be particularly mindful of the need to show sympathy to others who make this crossing.

We know there is a humanitarian crisis for the Syrian families and the hundreds of thousands who have fled Syria, most of whom are living in refugee camps in neighbouring states such as Lebanon, where 1 million out of a population of 4 million are refugees. There are 2 million Syrians in refugee camps in Turkey, all in dire situations, and the world community needs to take action to address the humanitarian crisis there. There is now another humanitarian crisis, which has been unfolding on a much bigger scale this year than in previous years, with so many people undertaking the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean Sea or across land to reach European countries. Some 3,000 people have died this year alone on the Mediterranean, including the small boy, Aylan Kurdi, whose photograph touched us all so deeply.

The Irish vessels and their crews that have taken part in the relief effort have to be commended. They have done very important work and it is welcome that we have provided support through Irish Aid. Yesterday, at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, we heard in more detail about the planning in respect of the resettlement and relocation of refugees and it is important to distinguish between the two. We have undertaken to resettle 520 refugees from front-line camps in Lebanon whose status will be predetermined as refugees when they come to Ireland. An additional 2,450 are to be relocated over a two-year period from transit across Europe, particularly from Italy and Greece. We will then take in approximately 1,000 more on one basis or the other.

The committee heard from Mr. Michael Kirrane, the head of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, and from the Refugee Applications Commissioner, Mr. David Costello.They assured us that preparation is ongoing, that the task force has met, as the Minister of State has said, and that resources are being put in place. We expressed particular concern about the mechanism for determining the status of the 2,450 people who are to be relocated. As the Minister of State has said, it is anticipated that those who come here on a relocation basis will not have their status predetermined and therefore will be accommodated in what are to be known as emergency reception and orientation centres. I share the concerns of others, as expressed at the joint committee meeting and again today, that this should not become another form of direct provision. We are all familiar with the significant problems that exist in direct provision centres. We are all extremely anxious that these centres would not house people who are awaiting decisions on status for more than a few weeks at a time.

When I questioned the Refugee Applications Commissioner, I received a personal assurance from him that he is recruiting more staff on a panel basis to ensure applications can be processed swiftly. He said his office will also need enhanced resources for the family reunification applications that will follow. I would like to make two points in that context. The Minister of State mentioned the Syrian humanitarian admission programme, under which 111 vulnerable people from Syria were granted permission to reside in Ireland last year following applications from family members here. I have been told that there were 308 applications, which means that just one third of applications were granted. I know from some of the Syrian families here how distressing that can be. I wonder if we might see a more generous approach to family reunification. The other concern I would like to mention is that family reunification provisions are apparently not included in the international protection Bill, as currently drafted. We need to ensure we have a generous approach to family reunification.

As I have said, there are concerns about housing and accommodation. We have all rightly praised Germany absolutely for its open approach to the admission of refugees. I know from colleagues in Germany that public buildings like school halls, community halls and barracks have been turned over for these purposes. I suggest this is an appropriate approach to short-term provision if there is no other way of doing it. We all understand that. We need to be sure that decisions are made in a matter of weeks so that families, in particular, are not housed in inappropriate accommodation for long periods.

We were told that the end of the year would see the first arrivals. We asked for a timeframe in that regard because it is clear that this is very urgent. This brings me to a very particular issue in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that is of concern. We know that tens of thousands of Syrian people, in particular, are currently on the move through Greece and Italy. There are also people fleeing wars in Iraq, Eritrea and other countries. We were told yesterday that the EU process and apparatus is really only cranking up now, belatedly, to provide an assurance to those who are currently on the move through Greece and Italy that provision will be made to relocate them if they stay in what are known as "hot spots" in those countries. I understand this will be done in co-operation with the Italian and Greek authorities. There is a major problem for people who are facing such an uncertain future. They must be given an assurance that adequate provision will be made for relocation from those countries.

I agree with Senator van Turnhout about the need for sanctions against those EU countries that are not showing the compassion and the humanity we are seeing from Germany. I refer particularly to Hungary, which has behaved so appallingly towards refugees. My father's country of origin, the Czech Republic, has not been particularly generous either. It behoves us in Ireland to be strong on this issue and to seek to ensure there is a common humanitarian response from across the EU.

I wish to raise a couple of other points. In light of the Minister of State's role in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, it is important to ask him to set out what Ireland is doing to ensure there is a strong EU intervention to seek to resolve the cause of this crisis, which is forcing people to have to flee from Syria. What EU interventions are in hand to seek to resolve the war? As others have said, we are seeing an escalation in Russia's intervention. Iran is backing the Assad regime. The US is refusing to countenance any transitional arrangement with Assad in power. Huge numbers of civilians are caught in the middle in cities like Aleppo and Homs. What are the measures that are being taken? Do the Gulf states have a role to play in this respect? Is any pressure being put on them? Indeed, are any sanctions being imposed on countries that are exporting arms to the Assad regime or to ISIS? We know that civilians are being targeted by both.

I have been asked to raise the plight of a particular group, the Yazidi community, which is being targeted by ISIS in northern Iraq. I am aware that the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, who has spoken on this issue, recognises the plight of this community, which has been singled out for genocidal treatment by ISIS. I wonder whether we can see this group being provided with targeted aid through Irish Aid's programmes. Indeed, can we see members of this community being prioritised for resettlement?

The enormous bravery, resilience and courage of Syrian families and individuals must be acknowledged in any contribution on the current crisis. I refer to those who have made such incredible and epic journeys from Syria in search of safety for their children and a future for themselves. The positive that has come from this is the immense compassion from ordinary citizens across the EU who have been showing their support and compassion in such large numbers. In Ireland, we have seen it in the pledges of support made on uplift.ie. I echo the Minister of State's assertion that the Red Cross is to be commended on taking on the co-ordination of pledges from the public through its website, which was just established on Monday. I know it will be seeking to make sure concrete pledges are being given. It will follow up on those pledges to ensure provision is made. The pupils in the school attended by my children have packed up thousands of packages of toiletries for refugees on the Greek and Italian borders. There is a real political will to help in any way we can the people who are caught in such a terrible situation and are trying to get to refuge in Europe.