The Minister for Children has launched a pilot programme to provide support for children seeking asylum in Ireland. The “One Good Adult” scheme funded by the Body Shop, matches child asylum seekers with an independent advocate in Ireland. This independent advocate will act as a mentor to the child and assist them in adapting to life in Ireland. Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance stated that “separated children are alone in Ireland without love, care and solidarity from their families. This project provides them with a person who will walk with them every step of the way on their journey through the care and asylum process ensuring their best interests are taken into account and their voices are heard”.
Click here to read an article in the Journal about the new programme.
In other news relating to child asylum seekers, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has called for a reform of immigration policies that affect children. It published recommendations on improving the situation of young immigrants in its submission to a public consultation by the Department of Children on the issue. In the report the Immigrant Council said that there was a failure on the part of the education and immigration systems to keep up with the needs of this group. The Immigrant Council drew attention to a number of different problems in the area, including the requirement that once migrant children reach the age of 16 they must register with the Garda National Immigration Bureau, an act that differentiates them from their peers. The NGO recommended the reform of certain legislation, a review of the structure of third-level education tuition fees and the adoption of measures to tackle racism and xenophobia.
Click here to read an article in the Irish Times.
Meanwhile, the Migrant Rights Centre has presented a petition containing more than 4000 signatures in support of a new earned regularisation scheme for migrants to the Special Advisor to the Minister for Justice Equality and Defence and the Head of Policy at the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. An "earned regularisation scheme" would provide undocumented migrants to with a change to legalise their status through gaining points through a range of activities such as paying taxes and gaining proficiency in English.
Click here to read an article on the proposed scheme at Journal.ie.
Materials from a recent Refugee and Immigration Practitioner Network seminar are now also available here. The presentation by Michael Timmins BL is on the topic of refugee protection in South East Asia.