The UK government is set to unveil a significant new programme aimed at reforming immigration, with a primary focus on halting the practice of lodging asylum applicants in the sole operational hotel in a town. The roadmap, anticipated for some time, is advanced by Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman in conjunction with Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s proposals to revamp immigration mechanics.
Despite these measures, it is expected that the State will remain dependent, for the foreseeable future, on hotels in localities where multiple venues operate. There have been widespread criticisms and demonstrations surrounding plans to house asylum seekers in a town’s only working hotel, such as D Hotel in Drogheda and the Racket Hall hotel in Roscrea. Consensus among local residents and representatives indicates that this hampers commercial revenue for surrounding businesses and deprives communities of valuable communal space.
Far-right groups have been known to attend protests at various prospective housing centres, leading the government to hastily formulate alternatives, such as a community hotel in Roscrea.
Government insiders reveal that the tendency to use a town’s final operational hotel should subside with the introduction of more lodgings. Plans laid out by Minister O’Gorman are designed not only to tackle the immediate problem, but also implement sustained reforms along the lines of a previous model to abolish the direct provision system, which has been significantly disrupted by the crisis.
The coalition’s target is to gradually shift from dependency on privately provided services towards state-run accommodation coupled with commercial providers, with the aim of raising standards. A ramped-up purchasing and construction plan for housing is envisaged, alongside utilisation of publicly owned land for modular units and the refurbishment of disused offices to accommodate international protection seekers.
The plan is set to be published following the Cabinet meeting. However, it is anticipated such plans will carry a substantial cost and will likely not immediately resolve ongoing debates surrounding immigration. Minister O’Gorman has also indicated that it could take several years to introduce sufficient accommodation to maintain a stable new system and that reliance on the private sector will be needed in the meantime.
Ms McEntee is set to propose participation in the EU’s Asylum and Migration accord, established in the latter part of the previous year. This move will compel Ireland to supersede its current international protection laws, indicating the most significant overhaul of the nation’s immigration legislation in many years. As a part of this initiative, Ireland will be required to ramp up security screenings, while concurrently aiming to reduce the so-called ‘secondary movements’, perceived as a significant issue for the country by the government.
It will put in place legally mandated deadlines for determining applications and appeals, prioritise ‘efficient returns’ for those applicants who are unsuccessful, along with expedited procedures for individuals originating from safe nations, those with counterfeit or no documents, or anyone entering illegally.
A fresh border protocol will be introduced to expedite the processing for those less likely to receive asylum. Moreover, a new contribution-based system will be implemented, obliging nations to either provide financial aid or accept asylum seekers from struggling nations. Also, there will be an extension in the screening for migrant categories that will be fingerprinted for cross-referencing with a consolidated European database.