A MIGRANT RIGHTS organisation has called for border immigration checkpoints between the North and Republic “to be stopped”.
The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) study says that following the Good Friday peace agreement, border checkpoints were removed “but are now gradually being re-introduced for the purposes of immigration control”.
The report says such measures “undermine the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and need to be stopped”.
The MRCI publication, ‘Singled Out’, documents incidents of ethnic profiling in Ireland, whereby those in positions of authority, such as police, target people for reasons of safety, security or public protection but rely on stereotypes about ethnicity rather than on reasonable suspicion.
Observation work identified that ethnic minorities were the focus of discriminatory checks on trains, buses and on the street.
MRCI director Siobhán O’Donoghue commented: “Guards and immigration officers are clearly making judgements on who to ask for ID on the basis of their colour, accent and appearance and this is recognised internationally as discriminatory.”
She welcomed the recent High Court decision which ruled that Section 12 of the Immigration Act – which makes it a criminal offence for immigrants not to produce ID on demand – is unconstitutional.
Research interviewees spoke of fears for their children. “There will be second and third generation Irish citizens and it will be divisive; it will cause bigger problems down the road…” said one person subjected to ethnic profiling.
Members of the public interviewed for the research assumed that people being checked “were illegal”.
Avila Kilmurray, director of the Community Foundation Northern Ireland said: “Ireland, North and South, is a diverse and multicultural society. Singling people out on the basis of their appearance or colour reinforces divisions and inequality.”
O’Donoghue also warned that ethnic profiling diminishes the capacity of An Garda Síochána.
“International research now recognises that ethnic profiling, apart from fuelling racism, is an inefficient and ineffective use of public resources,” she said.
“Checks and inspections should only be done on the basis of ‘reasonable suspicion’ and not on the colour of a person’s skin, accent or appearance.”
