Kenny accused of hypocrisy over immigration

Posted by Jim on March 24, 2017

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been urged to do more to help those coming to
Ireland to escape global conflicts following his comments on immigration
in the US last week, which received unprecedented international media
attention.

Mr Kenny’s speech about the value of immigration in front of US
president Donald Trump at a St Patrick’s Day event on Capitol Hill last
Thursday made no reference to Mr Trump’s policies. However, it was
interpreted by the US and European media as a veiled criticism of Mr
Trump’s plans to ban immigration from certain Muslim countries and to
build a wall along the Mexican border.

“Irish PM trolls Donald Trump on immigration right in front of him,” was
how the Metro publication in London reported the speech.

However, under Ireland’s own system for refugees, immigrants coming to
the country are kept in crowded hostels which are operated in the manner
of open prisons. Food and shelter are provided, but rights such as the
right to privacy, the right to prepare and cook food and the right to
earn a wage are denied.

The ‘direct provision’ system has been labeled “inhuman and degrading”
in a court case being taken against Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.
Human rights lawyers have asserted that the system is illegal under both
the Irish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, and
other international rights conventions that the 26 County state has
subscribed to.

The Dublin government’s own Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Dr
Geoffrey Shannon, described it as “institutionalised poverty”. The Irish
Refugee Council has reported that young people living in direct
provision centres are more prone to depression and suicide.

Tuesday was International Day Against Racism, and a number of groups
marked the occasion by gathering at the gates of the Dublin parliament
to back a Dail motion to bring about an end to the system.

The motion, initiated by People Before Profit TD Brid Smith in
association with United Against Racism, has been signed by 36 TDs.

A statement from United Against Racism read: “Speaking with Donald
Trump, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that ‘St Patrick is the patron saint of
immigrants’.

“We remind the Taoiseach that the asylum seekers in Direct Provision are
immigrants too and Ireland has been keeping them in extreme poverty and
inhumane conditions for many years. It’s time for it to end.”