A new report published by a Dublin-based NGO identifies the main challenges facing ethnic integration and calls on the Government to establish more proactive immigration legislation. The Integration Centre’s Roadmap to Integration 2011 was launched on 13 October and proposes specific solutions to combat racism and promote inclusiveness in various economic, social and political sectors.
The roadmap targets immigration and migrant policies and practices currently in place, and designates organisations that are responsible for improvement.
The report’s aim, according to Integration Centre CEO Killian Forde, is to challenge what he calls the Government’s “light touch” approach to immigration.
What started out as internal research, said Forde, soon became a valuable source of information and a forum for suggestions from those working in the field.
“The idea, really, for us was to internally clarify the idea of integration for ourselves,” he told Metro Éireann. “As the concept of integration itself can be disputed and open to interpretation, we wanted to identify what are the problems and what are solutions.”
At core of the report’s proposals are integrated and secularised education, legislation clearly defining a racist crime, electoral reforms to streamline and popularise the electoral system for immigrants, and reformations in the work visa system.
According to Forde, the Government’s current approach stems from reactions made in light of high influxes of EU and non-EU nationals, resulting in haphazard and inefficient policies.
He said he believes that there must be a sense of urgency on the Government’s part to act in a way that serves the interests of all people living in Ireland.
“There is an attitude that, by and large, things are pretty good here,” said Forde, “but that doesn’t meant that things will stay that way.”
Of the immigrant population that is eligible to vote in local elections, only 20 per cent of them do, according to Forde.
Although evidence has shown that immigrants as a group don’t tend to vote, he said that there has been no real effort to target these communities.
Above all, Forde suggested that migrants and immigrants should feel a sense of permanency here. A non-committal attitude towards to living and working in Ireland has been made greater by the unresponsiveness of the Government, he indicated.
Forde also said that with NGOs concentrating on immigration struggling recently due to budget restrictions, the report seeks to stimulate a much-needed Government response.
The Roadmap to Integration compiled research from the Integration Centre in the sectors of business and employment, political participation, health, education, skills training, policing and justice, poverty and housing, citizenship and residency, and civic participation.
It also includes contributions from experts in the different sectors, as well as the centre’s network of over 250 affiliated organisations.
The full report can be found on the Integration Centre’s website at integrationcentre.ie.
