People Before Profit (PBP) has maintained that providing asylum seekers with immediate work rights in the state wouldn’t serve as a “pull” factor. The party has presented a Bill that would permit asylum seekers to be employed whilst their applications are in deliberation. Bulelani Mfaco, a spokesman for Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) and a South African who received asylum in the previous year, stated at a Dublin press conference that the decision of asylum seekers regarding where to look for international safety isn’t driven by employment rights. He highlighted countries like Sweden and Portugal as having fewer employment limitations than Ireland, but not necessarily receiving more migrants.
Mr Mfaco, who has been living in Ireland since 2015, voiced the continuous reluctance to the idea of immediate work rights for asylum seekers, as many are under the impression it may result in an influx of asylum seekers into the state. He quickly added, “I firmly doubt anyone from Nigeria, Sudan, Jordan, or Palestine is currently navigating different asylum systems with the idea of selecting the country offering the best welcome. I simply don’t believe that’s the scenario”.
He pointed to a broad lack of knowledge about how the asylum process operates, and how few individuals realise that asylum seekers are prohibited from working upon their arrival in Ireland. He continued, “The ignorance we often see online and which is increasingly manifesting on our streets is fuelled by such misconceptions. It’s time for responsible leadership in conversations around migration”.
Presently, asylum seekers in Ireland are only allowed to apply for the right to work after a five-month stay, followed by a waiting period of 150 days. PBP TD Paul Murphy argued that the government’s treatment of asylum seeker appears to be a form of “performative cruelty” and an attempt to appease far-right demonstrators. Murphy asserted that this redirection of focus onto the migrant population serves as a distraction from government failures in areas such as housing, healthcare and cost of living.
The existence of 2,000 homeless asylum seekers presently in the country is utterly disgraceful, he stated. He asserted that there is ample availability of vacant beds in the system to accommodate every one of the asylum seekers who are currently without homes.
Moreover, he expressed severe criticisms of the approach to asylum proposed by Sinn Féin, pointing out that their newly unveiled five-point plan suggests they intend to impose more stringent measures on asylum seekers than the existing government.
Mr Murphy proposed a potential resolution could be to permit asylum seekers to work and contribute in sectors suffering from labour shortages such as public transportation and building industries where there is a demand for bus drivers. Approximately 10,000 asylum seekers could gain from having an automatic right to work based on the current statistics, he noted.
He believes that such an approach would encourage true integration within workplaces, helping to ease existing anxieties and suspicions as local employees work shoulder to shoulder with these asylum seekers. This, according to him, would allow individuals to see that asylum seekers are ordinary people, like them, willing to contribute to society through work.
According to most recent records available for individuals applying for international protection, there were 429 arrivals in the week concluding on July 7th, later reduced to 328 arrivals in the week ending on July 14th, which dipped further to 285 arrivals in the week concluding on July 21st. The figures went up to 424 for the week ending on August 4th and further increased to 388 for the week closing on August 11th. Interestingly, the Department of Justice does not have data ready for the week closing on July 28th.