A report, Person or Number?, published by human rights organisations Crosscare, Nasc and Doras Luimni, says there are many shortcomings in the provision of social protection to migrants. The report aims to highlight the difficulties faced by migrants seeking social assistance. You can download the full report on the Nasc homepage.
Topics examined in the report include poor information provision and adversarial approaches, decisions based on speculation, processing delays and lack of understanding of immigration status. The report says that out of fifty-four cases, ten of these cases dealt with migrants who were homeless because of lack of social protection assistance.
One case summary tells the story of Radhi, a recognised refugee. Radhi left Ireland for eleven days to visit a country bordering her country of origin to marry the father of her child. Tio, the father of her child, had previously applied for refugee status in Ireland and when refused had voluntarily left the country. On returning to Ireland after the eleven days, Radhi was told that she could no longer be regarded as habitually resident, and therefore her One-Parent Family Payment and Rent Allowance were cut. The report says that Radhi’s actions had never implied that she intended to change her place of habitual residence. Radhi was then unable to pay rent and ended up living in a homeless shelter with her young child. The NGO assisting Radhi pursued the case until it was accepted that the grounds on which the rent payment was withdrawn were incorrect.
The report included lists of recommendations under each issue. A frequent recommendation featured in the report is the provision of training and information to staff in the Department of Social Protection.
Click here to see an article by the Irish Times on the report.
Bulletin readers may recall that FLAC has partnered with the Aire Centre in London on an EU funded tri-city project which will examine EU migrants’ access to Special Non-Contributory Benefits in Dublin, London and Amsterdam. A roundtable event was held in Dublin on 1 March for practitioners, NGO advocates and academics with a wide range of expertise in social welfare law issues. More than 30 participants attended and presentations were made by representatives from FLAC, Nasc, the Aire Centre, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Derek Shortall BL. Materials from the roundtable can be accessed here. The third roundtable for the project will take place in the Netherlands in May 2012.
In other news, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has established a mentoring programme for migrants. ‘Ambassadors for Change’ will train volunteers aged between 18-30 as ambassadors, who will then be linked up with participating secondary schools. These volunteers will be highly accomplished individuals from migrant backgrounds. The volunteers will then be available in the participating schools to offer informal advice and guidance to students on both academic and social issues.
Click here to see an article by the Irish Examiner on the programme.