MEPs Complain at Length of Detention of Asylum Seekers In Ireland

Irish MEPs have complained at the length of detention and limitations on family rights for third country nationals currently staying in Irish detention facilities, reports The Good News.
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The complaint follows a visit by the MEPs to the Cloverhill Detention Centre, Ireland, earlier in the month at the request of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) who have been working to highlight the conditions of asylum seekers and irregular migrants who are currently detained in similar centres across Europe.

Renaud de Villaine, advocacy officer of JRS Europe, reiterated the call of its report Detention in Europe: “This visit underlines the need to establish an independent EU monitoring body to ensure that the conditions of detention for asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Europe are satisfactory and in line with human rights standards.”

The MEPs were particularly concerned with the length of detentions, the average stay being between 30 and 56 days, as well as the divisive nature of visiting restrictions. The Cloverhill has a family room for visits but it is subject to a waiting list.

Of greater concern to the MEPs was the fact that asylum seekers and irregular migrants are being detained in a prison despite not having committed a crime.

The MEPs did, however, praise the staff at Cloverhill for being committed to providing as comfortable a stay as possible for the detainees.

|QUOTE|The concerns of JRS Europe centre around the degree of discretion given to Gardai and immigration officers to detain people entering the country to seek asylum.

Eugene Quinn, national director of JRS Ireland, explained: “The grounds on which a person may be detained include that they cannot prove their identity or that they are travelling with either no or false travel documentaries. But almost all asylum seekers are in this situation.”

He continued: “The use of detention may therefore undermine their right to seek asylum. JRS believes detention should be a measure of last resort and that more humane and much less costly alternatives should be explored such as bail, provision of a guarantor or a requirement to sign on regularly in a local Garda Station.”