The Irish government has announced that it has ended employment restrictions on employment in Ireland for workers from Romania and Bulgaria. The restrictions were put in place five years ago following the accession by those countries to the EU. The restrictions were supposed to last for seven years, but a decision was made following the large drop in numbers of people seeking access to the Irish job market and a request by the European Commission to examine whether the restrictions are still necessary. A statement from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation said that a review of the situation displayed the significant reduction in members of those countries seeking access to employment in Ireland. In 2003 3,600 permits were sought from nationals of those countries, whereas in 2011 this number dropped to just over 500 applications.
Click here to read an article in the Irish Times.
A useful factsheet compiled by the Immigrant Council of Ireland on the changes is available here.
The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service has published guidelines to set out how the immigration system deals with cases of domestic violence where the victim is a foreign national and their immigration status is currently derived from or dependant on that of the perpetrator of domestic violence. The guidelines describe how a victim of domestic violence can make an application for immigration status independent of the perpetrator of the violence. The guidelines have been welcomed by groups such as the Immigrant Council of Ireland and Nasc. However, it was noted by Brian Killoran of the Immigrant Council that a number of issues remain to be resolved in relation to the new guidelines. He stated that “we are still unclear as to the types of immigration status that will be issued to victims of domestic violence, and the rights and entitlements that these status types will give those who are in very vulnerable, dangerous situations”. Claire Cumiskey of Nasc drew attention to the requirement in the guidelines that the independent immigration status only applies when the parties are no longer living together as a family unit.
Click here to read the new guidelines.
Click here to read a press release from Nasc Ireland.
Meanwhile, the Irish High Court has quashed a Refugee Appeals Tribunal order refusing a Kosovan man refugee status. The man is a member of a minority gypsy group and he had claimed that he had been shot in his leg by Albanians in a racially motivated attack. The court had refused to allow him to present his medical records evidencing this attack as they regarded the account of the shooting to be implausible. The High Court ruled that this was a breach of fair procedures and that the tribunal was required to wait until the “expiration of a period allowed for the furnishing of medical reports” before refusing the documents. The case is to be returned to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal to be reheard.
Click here to read an article on Brophy Solicitors Immigration blog about the case.
The Irish Independent has reported that there are large numbers of illegal immigrants being detained in Northern Ireland and not receiving proper legal advice. The article states that the number detained at sea ports linking Northern Ireland and Scotland has increased by nearly 75%. Last year almost 300 people were intercepted while trying to use the ports. Fidelma O’Hagan, legal advisor at the Law Centre Northern Ireland stated that, “there is a lack of access to legal representation prior to removal. I would not be surprised if there are not people removed who have a right to be here and are not intending to break immigration laws”. Ms O’Hagan also said that there are concerns about the use of ethnic profiling. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has noted that the flights targeted by immigration control came from London - ie more likely to contain ethnic minorities.
Click here to read an article on Brophy Solicitors Immigration blog about the issue.