Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Ireland. By Paul Cullen. Cork University Press. 68pp, £6.95
The Uninvited: Refugees at the Rich Man's Gate. By Jeremy Harding. Profile Books and the London Review of Books. 128pp, £5.99 in UK
In the sometimes ill-tempered discussions on refugee policy the human dignity of the individual is frequently disregarded. The abstractions used in public discourse conceal the fact that we are dealing with all-too-human responses to extreme circumstances. The impressive quality of these books, by Paul Cullen and Jeremy Harding, is that they never lose sight of the person behind the slogans and this basic premise. They exemplify writing which undermines the cosy narratives that dominate the asylum debate. The humanity of the "other" is never lost, and thus the books illustrate what more reflective writing on asylum might look like.
Extracts from Harding's book have already been published in the London Review of Books. His is a story of a journey to the edges of Fortress Europe and back. We are taken to Italy to learn of the contests between the regulators and the regulated on the frontiers of the new area of "freedom, security and justice". The picture painted of the entrepreneurial human traffickers is more complex than usual, and all the more compelling for that. Harding wants to understand rather than engage in self-serving condemnation. The assertion that traffickers "provide a service for desperate people" will distress some in official circles. A high moral tone on this issue is out of place, precisely because traffickers are the natural result of the creation of Fortress Europe. Traffickers rely for their business on EU restrictiveness and the imperatives of its asylum and immigration policy. As Harding notes, these states are effectively shutting down the legal mechanisms for entry. Is it any wonder that desperate people thus turn to illegal mechanisms to seek refuge?
Whether addressing individual cases from Kosovo, or the chaos of Britain's asylum policy, Harding retains his humane vision of how we might begin to think differently about human migration. This short book should be required reading for all those who wish to reap the rewards of the global economy while ignoring the responsibilities that come with it.
Cullen's work is a timely assessment of the story so far in Ireland. He is not impressed. Ireland's response is condemned as "shameful" with only the courts and the Eastern Health Board emerging with much credit. After placing refugee policy in context he tells the tale of the record of delay and the problems within the Department of Justice. On the latter he is right to note an emerging "culture of disbelief". This is not confined to Ireland, or to official circles. It is quite remarkable that people feel confident to make blanket statements about the merits of asylum claims in advance of formal assessment. An asylum-seeker requires a fair and effective assessment of her claim, not speculation about her status from a position of near total ignorance. The issue at present (which will be of concern to the new Refugee Commissioner) is how we tackle this "culture of disbelief" at an early stage, before it infects the entire determination system.
Cullen charts debates over the role of the media, the right to work and the law. These are all handled well as part of the author's argument. Although he notes that Ireland has made many mistakes, he accepts that it is not too late to begin to get things right. This compelling little book ends with a plea for a new form of "enlightened self-interest". This is a call for Ireland to deal maturely with human migration in its totality, while recognising that immigration and asylum are fundamentally distinct. As Cullen states, they are here to stay. The laws and policies that we construct and apply now must reflect this basic fact.
Human displacement has reached massive scales. By its nature it draws us towards responsibilities which transcend borders. The focus is on the protection of the person and her human dignity. Refugees are the world's unwanted who are, as Harding notes, "shuttled along a continuum of abuse". In the emotive arguments over asylum the humanity of the "other" is often lost. The refugee finds herself unwanted in her state of origin and state of refuge. As if to add further insult, she is repeatedly told that she is the cause of the abuse that she receives. Both the works under review unearth the complex narrative of the refugee and the appalling response to her plight. They help us to hear the dissident voices inside and outside of the "Fortress". These voices remind us of our global responsibilities and mongrel selves. Let us hope that those responsible for refugee policy development in Ireland, Britain and the EU are listening attentively.
Colin Harvey is a lecturer in the School of Law, Queen's University Belfast