Thematic Group Migrants

Last Updated October 31st 2019

December 2019

270 million people are migrants, who send home a staggering $689 billion

27 November 2019

The number of international migrants in 2019 is now estimated at 270 million and the top destination remains the United States, at nearly 51 million, the UN migration agency said on Wednesday.

Most hail from India, Mexico and China

Money sent home reaches $689 billion

African migrants tend not to leave continent

Conflict linked to record displacement

Numbers in direct provision above Government's contracted capacity More here

Government plans to house up to 5,500 asylum seekers in new or refurbished direct provision centres are running over the expected budget, with three of eight regional contracts awarded. More here from the Irish Times of Sat Nov 23rd

October 2019

Fine Gael MEPs criticised for voting against move to enhance rescue operations for migrants

So what's the story?

There are 4 Fine Gael MEPs elected to the European Parliament and they are Mairéad McGuinness, Maria Walsh, Frances Fitzgerald and Seán Kelly. The European Parliament rejected a vote, by two votes, asking member states to step up efforts to save asylum seekers making the perilous crossing on Thursday Oct 24th last. The Fine Gael MEPs who are in the Peoples Party Grouping in the EU Parliament sided with the Far Right Grouping and the their votes were crucial to the defeat of this resolution. So what was the resolution?

The resolution calls on the “EU Member States to enhance proactive search and rescue operations by providing sufficient vessels and equipment specifically dedicated to search and rescue operations and personnel, along the routes where they can make an effective contribution to the preservation of lives”

It also asks “to step up their efforts in support of search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean”.

The resolution calls on all actors in the Mediterranean to proactively transmit information related to persons in distress at sea to the competent authorities for search and rescue operations and to, where appropriate, any potential vessels in the vicinity that could imminently engage in search and rescue. When questioned the Irish MEPS offered the excuse that to share information could also alert traffickers to the location of migrants in distress. This argument was rubbished by all who heard it. Maria Walsh gave a car-crash account of the reasons why she voted against the resolution. You can hear this RTE interview here. This vote was held on the day after 39 people were found dead, concealed in a refrigerated trailer having lost their lives in pursuit of a new life abroad.

There have been 1,078 recorded drownings in the Mediterranean in 2019, according to the Missing Migrants Project, which tracks the deaths of migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, who have gone missing along mixed migration routes worldwide.

Una Mullaly commenting in the Irish Times of Oct 28th offered "No one is saying that these Fine Gael MEPs don’t care about people drowning in the Mediterranean. They’re not monsters. But teaming up with far-right politicians in the parliament, who cheered when the vote was lost, is, frankly, disgusting."

“The motion fell by two votes, further adding to a damning record of the EU on the deepening humanitarian crisis,” said Martina Anderson who charged the European Parliament with failure to commit to protecting human life in the Mediterranean. This was a humanitarian resolution that was brought before the parliament by the Spanish who are concerned about the "Fortress Europe" mentality that does it's utmost to exclude those who make perilous journeys. This resolution was also concerned with the decriminalisation of those who rescue those drowning and this could indeed be seen as a death sentence for the travelling migrants. At the very least it can put the NGOs at risk of criminalisation should they pluck someone from the sea. They could be charged with trafficking when they come into port. Maria Walsh was asked on Morning Ireland if she was proud of her achievement and her interview only went downhill from there. Fine Gael need to think out their position again. It was not their finest hour and I suspect that those who voted for them may well indeed have felt let down by their alignment with the far-right.

More here from the Journal.ie

And from the Irish Independent here (A comprehensive article here)

September 2019

World Day of Migrants Sept 29th 2019

Each year, the Church celebrates the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The Pope typically releases a message in advance of World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which this year is celebrated on September 29. This year, the Pope has chosen the theme “It is not just about migrants.” His message emphasizes that the rejection of migrants and refugees by many economically advanced societies is a sign of “moral decline.” He reminds us that in caring for vulnerable strangers, we help our societies move away from a "culture of indifference" and grow in awareness of God’s abundant love for all of us, even and especially the most marginalized.

Pope Francis again denounced “the globalization of indifference” and said “a painful truth” is that “our world is daily more and more elitist, more cruel towards the excluded,” as he celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Square on the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 29.

He reminded the 40,000 faithful present in the square and believers worldwide that “as Christians, we cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to 'our group'” and added, “we cannot remain insensitive, our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.”

The Trump Administration’s Sustained Attack on the Rights of Immigrant Children

More here Sept 5th 2019

Sicilian fishermen risk prison to rescue migrants: ‘No human would turn away’

Carlo Giarratana and his father, Gaspare, in Sciacca, Sicily. The family has fished off the Libyan coast for more than 50 years. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Observer

A father and son describe what it’s like to hear desperate cries on the sea at night as Italy hardens its stance against incomers

by Lorenzo Tondo More here

In a joint statement, the UNHCR and IOM heads said: "The crucial role played by NGOs must be acknowledged. They should not be criminalised nor stigmatised for saving lives at sea."

Ireland agrees to plan on migrant resettlement across EU

Eight EU member states, including Ireland, have agreed to actively participate in a new "solidarity mechanism" to resettle migrants and refugees across the European Union

How the media contributed to the migrant crisis

A boat dangerously overloaded with refugees lands near Molyvos on the Greek island of Lesbos, July 2015. Photograph: Jillian Edelstein

Disaster reporting plays to set ideas about people from ‘over there’. By Daniel Trilling More here

The Alan Kurdi headed toward Malta after Italy once again refused to open its ports to a humanitarian rescue ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

Refugee women could boost global GDP by $1.4 trillion if employment and pay gaps were closed

Refugee women have to contend with gender-based discrimination in addition to the barriers already faced by refugees of all stripes. When they are employed, it’s more likely to be in pink-collar fields or informal work with little oversight. In countries like Germany and Lebanon, just 6% of refugee women are employed. More here

Libya shipwreck: “There are no words to describe their suffering"

Anne-Cecilia Kjaer, MSF nurse activity manager in Libya, describes the scene after the survivors of a shipwreck off Libya, on Thursday 25 July, were brought back to shore in Libya, where our teams assisted them with medical treatment.“We received a call yesterday in the morning that there were people disembarked at the military base in Khoms. We arrived at around 10.30 am. Our team was made up of one doctor, two nurses and a driver. More here

How a small Turkish city successfully absorbed half a million migrants June 26th 2019

Imagine you live in a medium-sized city such as Birmingham or Milan. Now imagine that overnight the population increases by about 30%. The new people are mostly destitute, hungry and with nowhere to stay. They don’t even speak the language.

Then imagine that instead of driving them away, you make them welcome and accommodate them as best you can. More here

We must tackle causes of refugee problem June 26th 2019

Mary T Murphy.

Today is World Refugee Day. Sadly it is marked by new figures which show the number of people all over the globe fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million at the end of last year, the highest level ever recorded by the UN Refugee Agency.

This year the focus of World Refugee Day is Africa and finding solutions to forced displacement on the continent. Having worked in Ethiopia with Goal supporting refugees for eight years, my wish is that this date serves to somehow spark action to tackle this unacceptable humanitarian crisis.....More here

This Sudanese Migrant's Dream of Freedom Became a Nightmare Journey

Pregnant and living in violence, this Sudanese woman began a harrowing journey in search of refuge.

By Heather Murdock

Her home in Darfur had been burned to the ground three times and her husband, Ahmed, decided they should try for a future in Europe. Now she lives in Tripoli among thousands of other travelers trying to catch a boat across the sea.

Surviving the journey, she said, has been almost unbearable. More here June 26th 2019

A photographic Essay June 11th 2019

Documenting migrant deaths in the Mediterranean – in arresting pictures

Six people a day die crossing the Mediterranean. The work of Italian photojournalist Max Hirzel in his series Migrant Bodies speaks to the human stories behind this statistic and underlines how efforts to identify the dead are helping bereaved families. It will be on show at Sink Without Trace, an exhibition dedicated to migrant deaths at sea featuring work by 18 artists. More here

June 4th 2019 Italy: UN experts condemn bill to fine migrant rescuers

GENEVA (20 May 2019) – UN human rights experts* have condemned a proposed draft decree by Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, to fine those who rescue migrants and refugees at sea, and urged the Government to halt its approval. More here

Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini has proposed a bill to fine those who rescue refugees at sea up to €5,500 (£4,800) for every saved person.

The bill, which was announced by Mr Salvini on Friday, would present vessels with fines between €3,500 and €5,500 for each “foreigner” they deposit on Italian ground.

In the most serious cases, Italian vessels caught transporting rescued refugees would see their licences revoked or suspended. and here

April 24th 2019 Number of fresh asylum claims plunge after Home Office insists they must travel hundreds of miles to do so.

Destitute asylum seekers have been forced to make journeys of up to 500 miles each way – sometimes costing more than £100 – in order to submit further evidence to their claims after a policy change in 2015 meant the process could only be carried out in Liverpool.

A new analysis of government figures shows that since the policy was changed, the number of people making fresh claims has more than halved, plummeting from 162 in 2014 to just 70 in 2017. The overall number of people applying for asylum has risen by 6 per cent in the same period. More here Watch the video. There is a policy of hostility at the back of many of the Asylum policies that affect and cut. What needs to change.

April 16th 2019

March 30th 2019

The Plight of Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum (OLA)

In 2017, 175 unaccompanied minors – children under the age of 18 who are not in the care of a responsible adult – entered Ireland and were referred to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. In 2014, the number was 97.

This increase reflects the international trend. In 2017, 31,395 unaccompanied minors lodged an application for international protection in the European Union. This is a 30 percent increase on the number of unaccompanied minors entering Europe since 2014.

March 30th 2019

Child and Youth Migrants UN Data more here

March 30th 2019

Every dot represents remains of migrants whose deaths were in the Arizona desert alone and are not covered by the media. Over 3200 recorded, but we know there are many many more who cannot be found that the desert has consumed.#HumaneBorders

New research commissioned by the Co-op Group shows that 18% of British people are unaware of modern slavery. More here

Ireland is respected globally for the work and aid provided to the Syrian refugee crisis, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

The Foreign Affairs Committee discussed the humanitarian situation in Syria with representatives from charities Concern, Trocaire and Goal today, who say there is much work still to be done.

The committee heard that there is currently “no sign of peace although the regime has regained control” and that “normality inside Syria is barely tolerable with thousands of people displaced and the conditions are appalling”, said Brid Kennedy from Concern. More here

Government calls for Irish communities to sponsor refugee families (March 9th 2019)

Community Sponsorship

Community Sponsorship is a model for refugee resettlement which was developed in Canada in the late 1970’s, which invites local communities to come together to support the effective resettlement of refugees. It has been enormously successful in Canada and in 2017, Ireland announced it would be developing its own programme.

Nasc has long called for the introduction of community sponsorship in Ireland (see our Safe Passage Campaign). Since 2017, Nasc has worked closely with the Department of Justice and other civil society organisations to develop the Irish Community Sponsorship Programme. See our statement here on the official launch of the programme on 6th March 2019.

Dunshaughlin Community Sponsor Group with representatives from UNHCR Ireland and Nasc

Nasc has considerable experience in supporting communities to welcome refugee families. Between 2015-2018, Nasc worked closely with a community group in Wicklow to develop a pilot community sponsorship project, which welcomed the Al Sulaiman family to Wicklow in June 2018 (you can read more about that pilot project here). More recently, Nasc supported the first official Community Sponsor Group in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath to welcome the first refugee family to Ireland under the Irish Community Sponsorship Programme in December 2018.

What is Community Sponsorship?

Community Sponsorship enables communities to play an active role in welcoming refugees. Community Sponsorship is carried out by a core Community Sponsor Group – for example, neighbours, friends, colleagues, or members of a local sports club – who organise to provide both financial and in-kind support as well as social, orientation and administrative support as needed to refugees resettled in the local community.

This includes:

Sourcing accommodation for a period of 24 months for a resettled family or individuals
Providing supports as needed for a minimum period of 18 months
Fundraising a certain amount in advance of the arrival of the resettled family or individuals
Language, healthcare, educational and other orientation supports along the way

Community Sponsor Groups are supported in this process by a Regional Support Organisation, like Nasc, which helps the group to apply to become a Community Sponsor Group and to develop the Group’s settlement plan. Regional Support Organisations provide Community Groups with training and support throughout the entire process, and we prioritise safeguarding and adequate preparation throughout the process. The ultimate focus is on promoting independence, agency and social inclusion for the Community Sponsor Groups and for the refugee families when they arrive.

Community Sponsorship takes hard work, imagination and above all commitment, but we have also seen first hand how enriching and rewarding it can be for both communities and refugees in equal measure. It also provides a way for communities to be part of the response to the ongoing refugee crisis in a real and life changing way.

Documents relating to Community Sponsorship Ireland include:

Information about the Programme and how to apply can also be found on the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration’s website: www.integration.ie.

If you are interested in finding out how your local community can sponsor a refugee family, please contact Nasc’s Community Sponsorship Project Worker Maria Bateson at maria@nascireland.org.

Watch UNHCR’s video about the first family to arrive in Ireland through Community Sponsorship here:

Updated March 4th 2019

Here are the latest figures for Migrant arrivals to Europe for Jan-March 2019.

Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 9,286 in 2019; Deaths Reach 226

Geneva - IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 9,286 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea through the first 62 days of 2019, about a 10 per cent decrease from the 10,330 arriving during the same period last year. Deaths on the three main Mediterranean Sea routes through over eight weeks of the year are at 226 individuals, or just under half the 464 deaths occurring during the same period in 2018.

2019 HT Prayer Calendar and Flyer.pdf

Prayer Leaflet and Fact-Sheet

St. Josephine Bakhita was born in southern Sudan in 1869. As a young girl, she was kidnapped and sold into slavery. She was treated brutally by her captors as she was sold and resold. She did not remember her name; Bakhita, which means “fortunate one,” was the name given to her by her kidnappers. January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and this prayer leaflet and fact sheet is designed to guide us in prayer as we pray for all those who suffer at the hand of traffickers and people smugglers.

FEB 2019

Trump and the Wall - the Lies:

The Oval office tried to justify (Jan 8^th 2019) the federal government shutdown. Trump needed to convince at least some of the 57% of the public who oppose his WALL that such a wall is needed and that there is indeed a humanitarian crisis. Those who live in the border states of Texas and Arizona have no appetite for this wall as it would interrupt their water supply and look unsightly as it cuts across their land. Up to 60% of the public believe Trump to be dishonest and in particular when it comes to issues related to immigration.

1. Almost all of the 4000 potential terrorists that are known to the US government who attempted to come to the US did so via airports and ports and not across the Southern Border as was claimed. (In fact only about a dozen of those of the watch-list attempted to cross the Southern Border)

2. What will the wall be made from? At one time he said concrete but now he is moving from this.

3. He claimed that some of the former Presidents told him that they should have built this wall. This is in fact untrue.

4. Mexico will now not pay for this wall as he had claimed they would in revised trade deals. In fact the amount gained in such a new deal would be dwarfed by the cost of the wall.

5. Most drugs that come into the United States come in via ports and not across the Southern Border.

6. What of keeping those criminals away from the US by building this wall. The fact is that illegal immigrants mostly do their level best to stay away from the authorities for fear of drawing attention to themselves in case of deportation.

7. Federal Government employees are in favour of the wall. This is also untrue.

8. What of the Humanitarian Crisis that was mentioned in the lead up to the address. There is no doubt that those on the move are vulnerable and any arising crisis is exacerbated by the splitting up of the families that has been ongoing at the border by the Trump administration. “Having spent the past two years describing undocumented immigrants as thugs and murderers, and instituting border policies that separated thousands of migrant children from their parents for extended periods, Trump now sought to portray himself as a concerned observer”. New Yorker

Trump had reportedly been working with White House staff to create justification to declare a national emergency to build the wall unilaterally, but didn’t step this far during his address. “The president has chosen fear. We want to start with the facts,” Pelosi (speaker of the house) said afterwards. It is now the case that because of the Trump fixation with the wall and the aim to achieve this “by any means” has resulted in a government shutdown and an obvious distortion of the facts with the result that his credibility is slipping. (This is the White House view). More than this upwards of 800,000 workers are on leave without pay or are working to keep essential services open and operational without any payment.

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