At the annual Labour Party conference on 15 April 2012, a motion was put forward to support the regularisation of undocumented migrants in Ireland. The conference noted that the undocumented status of migrants means they experience high levels of poverty and deprivation and are prevented from accessing many social services. The motion involved an ‘Earned Regularisation Scheme’. Under this scheme, undocumented migrants would have the opportunity to gain permanent residency by fulfilling specified criteria such as working, paying taxes and contributing to the community over time. It was argued such measures would also be beneficial for Irish society, as it could generate additional tax contributions and improve overall public security. A further feature of such a scheme is that it would give credibility to Irish efforts to persuade the United States government to regularise the high numbers of undocumented Irish immigrants in that country.
Edel McGinley of the Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland stated that, “this is a very significant step in realising the human rights and dignity of undocumented men, women and children living in Ireland. The passing of this motion recognises that undocumented people are rooted within our communities and demonstrates a commitment to protecting the most vulnerable”.
Meanwhile, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has produced useful two factsheets. The first is on the subject of acquiring Irish citizenship by naturalisation, descent or birth and the second deals with long term residency and permission to remain ‘without condition as to time’. Both factsheets give a helpful analysis of the listed topics and are available here:
In the Netherlands, further obstacles are being created for immigrants attempting to gain long term residence and citizenship in the state. The Dutch government has announced that it will not finance integration and language classes for newly arrived immigrants in the state from 2013. This could have a very negative effect on immigrants in the Netherlands, as they must pass integration and language tests in order to gain a long term residence permit or citizenship.
Click here to read an article from Brophy solicitors on the proposed measures in Ireland.
Click here to read a news release by the Migrants Rights Centre on the proposed measures in Ireland.
Click here to read an article on the Dutch issue from the Human Rights in Ireland blog.