Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we distinguish that this is not a Bill related to trafficking. There is, of course, an overlap but trafficking is quite a distinct matter, and one where Ireland has rightly taken some action and can strengthen its actions. This relates to the smuggling of persons which is at their request. It is, of course, an area which needs to be carefully addressed. There are very serious concerns around the smuggling of persons illegally. We need to place it in context. The reality is that across the world we have conflicts, to which European countries have contributed. In many cases, they have generated situations which, for example, apply to some of the provisions in this Bill such as not having correct legal documents. We know that right now in the case of Afghanistan, for example, people are not necessarily able to identify the documents they need to travel, and even though a person may be legitimately entitled to travel, they may not be able to travel under his or her own name or with a passport. We have had situations such as that.

We also know that Europe has, sadly, treated wars, like those in Syria and Afghanistan, as migration crises rather than what they are which is crises of conflict and humanitarian crises. It was extraordinarily disappointing to see the EU interior ministers producing a statement in August, literally as we watched the crisis unfold in Afghanistan, in which they talked only about preventing illegal entry and what steps needed to be taken to ensure that we did not have a repeat of the situation during the conflict in Syria, a repeat that is of migration in Europe and visible migration in Europe's streets.

It is important that we are honest about that context, which is that we have a European Union which has been remiss in offering legal safe passage routes which are adequate and offering family reunification models which allow people entry. Nobody wants to take unsafe routes but where there should be legal routes, where there are better humanitarian programmes and where there are many ways for people to find a legal route and are not pushed into the hands of those who seek to commercially gain from desperation.

I recognise that there are some provisions in this Bill which are designed to protect those who are being smuggled as opposed to those who are engaged in smuggling. That is important and I know that is the intent here. There is still, however, much ambiguity, and we are creating potential situations of jeopardy.

I note that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, made numerous recommendations in regard to this Bill at pre-legislative scrutiny stage, the majority of which were not included in the Bill. One of the most crucial of those was that humanitarian aid should be an exemption under the law, and not a defence in a court case. That is provided for under the UN convention, which allows that humanitarian aid can be an exemption. We say it can be a defence, but we still have the situation where there is aggressive prosecution and aggressive litigation. It is one thing to say you have something as a defence, but you may be waiting for trial for two years, in limbo, or facing the cost of a case, which we know is happening. In 2018 we had a humanitarian volunteer from County Cork accused of human trafficking while volunteering in Lesbos, Greece. In March we had Italian prosecutors charging dozens of rescuers from Save the Children and Médicins Sans Frontières, accusing them of smuggling. However long they may be able to defend themselves in those cases, the key point is it is creating a criminalisation of those who are seeking to step in and to engage in the kind of humanitarian search and rescue that our State once engaged in. The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, very poignantly spoke about the terrible damage done by smugglers and those who gain economically and put people at risk.

My final point is that the number of refugees assisted by our Naval Service fell from 8,500 in 2015 to 1,088 in 2018. In 2018 there were 2,160 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. These are the realities of the dangerous situations which we create when we do not create safe passage and when states do not step up, and when individuals or NGOs are left in the position of having to do the humanitarian work which states should be doing. I applaud the intent of the Bill but I would urge that that core point around humanitarian purposes and the issue of safe passage be addressed.