Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I normally try to keep my final intervention before the recess quite light but I cannot do that today, unfortunately. I have to raise an issue that fills me with despair about the state we are in at this time. Another arson attack has been committed, this time in Coolock. This racism represents an existential threat to our democracy and public safety. It is very worrying. If asylum seekers are not treated with the dignity and respect they deserve as human beings, it will be corrosive to the democratic fabric of our society. If human rights are not upheld for everyone, we are less safe. We have to look at how racism has poisoned political discourse in countries such as the US and the UK.Part of any humane asylum system is finding accommodation for people as they wait for their claims to be processed. We are failing miserably on that despite a High Court order demonstrating that making single men who are seeking asylum, including children, homeless as a matter of course is illegal. The Government is persisting in this heartless policy. These homeless asylum seekers have nowhere else to go, yet their belongings are routinely confiscated and destroyed by the Garda. The legal basis for this is unclear. These homeless asylum seekers are now being harassed and assaulted by racists, who are tormenting them and broadcasting it on social media. It is absolutely obscene. We have a duty of care and a duty to protect the men from violence. I just do not know why we are refusing to do this. It cannot continue. If we are a truly modern liberal democracy, we cannot tolerate human rights abuses like this.

I support my colleague Senator Higgins's stance on Gaza. The Government absolutely needs to take more action on this. We need to pass the occupied territories Bill. My colleague also spoke about the arms embargo.

I support the points made by my colleague Senator Gavan on the national advocacy services.