In 1969 I got married in Israel to an Irish citizen. We sent a notarised translation of our marriage cert and my birth certificate to the Department of Justice in Dublin, and I received my passport and naturalisation papers by return of post before I ever set foot in Ireland, where I have lived ever since. It was that easy.
Similarly, various waves of programme refugees who were later invited to Ireland from Iran, Vietnam, Bosnia and Kosovo had little difficulty in obtaining permission to reunite with their families.
In stark contrast, many migrants and refugees in Ireland today are finding it increasingly hard to obtain permission to unite with their families. And the situation is getting worse.
The Irish Constitution is clear about its support for the family, regarding as “the natural primary and fundamental unit group of society”, and guaranteeing to protect it “as the necessary basis of social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State” (Article 41). The family is further upheld in a variety of international conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Despite this, people granted refugee status in Ireland are finding it hugely difficult to obtain permission to be reunited with their family members – and once refused, there is no appeals procedure.
The numbers are very small: since 2003, 2,668 family reunification applications were made by refugees, involving some 5,800 dependents, yet no statistics are available as to how many of these applications were successful.
A new report published last week by the Refugee Information Service (RIS) highlighted the issues involved in Ireland’s increasingly draconian regulations on family reunification, worse here than in many other EU members.
The report, employing focus groups, comparative analysis and RIS case file analysis, highlighted the importance of family to refugees’ emotional and psychological well-being, economic security and above all, integration. It also highlighted the narrow definition of the family – as merely based on heterosexual marriage – and the less than transparent procedures involved.
Speaking at the launch, Niall Crowley, former head of the Equality Authority, spoke about the importance of family reunification not only to refugee integration, but also to general societal equality, a principle that seems to have disappeared in these lean times. It is crucial, Crowley stressed, that any gains made in this area are not eroded, particularly in this time of economic recession.
Crowley did not mince his words, urging his audience to support refugee integration through campaigning for family reunification, to voice support for the public sector, and to act as advocates by focusing on individuals as well as collective action beyond our own concern.
But for me, the most important speaker at the launch was Shahlaa Nassralla, a refugee from Iraq whose husband was assassinated and who is still waiting for an answer regarding her family reunification application.
Shahlaa’s story made it clear to me that it is not sufficient to write glossy reports and express polite hopes that the Government will change its family reunification policies. We need to return to vigorous campaigning and begin again to demand change.
Anyone out there want to join in?
Dr Ronit Lentin is head of the MPhil in Ethnic and Racial Studies at the Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. Her column appears fortnightly in Metro Éireann
