Written answers

Tuesday, 15 December 2020

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Refugee Status

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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396. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of families and the number of unaccompanied children who have arrived in Ireland from the Moria camp in Greece to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42936/20]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ireland strongly supports the principle of solidarity and recognises that assistance is required for Member States who face a disproportionate number of applicants and particularly where incidences such as that which occurred in the Moria camp in Lesbos can cause additional hardship.

Under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) Ireland has committed to accepting 50 people in family groups from the camp at Moria on Lesbos. Officials from my Department have been in contact with EU counterparts to confirm this pledge and to begin the process of resettling refugees to Ireland.

We await details from the European Commission of the family groups and unaccompanied minors and clarification regarding logistics for the interview missions required to transfer refugee families to Ireland. The necessary arrangements are in place to receive migrants who had been in Moria, however as yet the process which the Commission and Greek authorities are undertaking to identify those who will travel is ongoing and as such no migrants originating from the Moria camp have yet traveled to Ireland.

Following the fires in Moria, unaccompanied minors who had been living in that camp were dispersed to other parts of Greece by the Greek authorities. The Greek State is now endeavouring to assess the total population of minors living in precarious conditions, estimated to be approximately 700 minors. In order to match an unaccompanied minor with an appropriate state for placement, the assessment will take into account the child’s best interests, and each member state’s commitment. Following the assessment, the Greek State will propose a consolidated list to the European Commission.

I am working to accelerate the reception of the additional refugees which the Government has committed to taking in particular unaccompanied minors. However, this will not occur until the Greek authorities have completed their assessment of the situation on the ground in Greece.

Notwithstanding the ongoing process in identifying refugees from Moria, and in spite of obvious Covid-related challenges this year, Ireland has continued to accept refugees under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme in 2020, with 195 new arrivals originating from Syria.

I secured an additional €5 million in Budget 2021 to support the intake of unaccompanied minors from Greece under the International Protection Programme, and a number of options are being progressed by Tusla and my officials to expand the number of available care placements. These include the expansion of care placements, the development of specialised foster care placements, and provision of aftercare supports when children turn 18. The intention is that any rapid expansion does not negatively impact the quality of the service provided, and that Ireland’s standard of treating unaccompanied minors as children first, and not only refugees or asylum seekers, is maintained.

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