With the emergence of our globalised world, migration has become an international phenomenon. Once borne of necessity, today millions of people emigrate from their home countries for any number of reasons, be they political, economic, educational or personal.
Many of these people integrate easily and enjoy equal rights in their new homes, but a significant number can find themselves marginalised, their rights often violated or simply ignored.
“When I came to Europe, I first arrived in Spain where I found many prejudices towards Latin people,” explains Carolina, a student of English from the Dominican Republic. “However, I could easily integrate and adapt myself by working and studying hard.”
Carolina explains that language is her main barrier in Ireland in terms of looking for work, but she does not think her nationality should be a reason for discrimination.
“Someone told me once that if I wanted to get a job in Ireland, I had to say that I was Spanish. But I cannot deny my identity,” she says. “If a company is only interested in my origin and not my experience, I do not want to work for them.”
With the free movement of workers that came with the opening of borders between European countries, a two-tier system has emerged whereby new arrivals in Ireland are classed as either EU citizens or non-EU immigrants. The latter often become a target for violence and exclusion from legal protection in their host countries.
“As a French and European citizen I feel lucky about my situation,” explains Antoine, a translator. “With this economic recession, I am aware of the difficulties for non-European people and the barrier of the language. In my opinion, some procedures for immigrants should be simplified or guided.”
Meanwhile, human rights violations in certain parts of the world, where people are persecuted for racial, religious or political reasons, have given rise to yet another category of migrants: asylum seekers.
EU countries face thousands of applications for asylum every year, but the difficulties in managing them while their applications are considered has left many living in limbo, hindered from enjoying the basic freedoms of life.
Blend, a Kurdish taxi driver, arrived in Ireland in 2003 claiming asylum after fleeing the war in Iraq. “In my country there were no human rights, only people killing each other for nothing,” he says. “The first time I came here, I felt surprised about the fact that everybody is considered the same and that we all have the same rights regardless of race or creed.”
He continues: “I got [my status] in one year, but the situation in this country has changed for immigrants like me. They have put more barriers.”
For some, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A worker from a solicitor’s office, who would not disclose her name, thinks that it is understandable that immigrants from non-European countries find more barriers than those from EU member states.
“Currently there are 26 different nationalities which could arrive in Ireland,” she says. “In the case of asylum seekers, even if the quotas have been reduced, they have many chances of proving their status.”
That may be the case, but experience shows that without integration based on equal rights both immigrants and citizens alike, we won’t be serving the best interests of Ireland’s new society.
Nadia Mattar is currently on an internship with Metro Éireann
