There is an urgent need for immigrants' family reunification rights to be set down in law, according to a new study.
The study, Family Matters: Experiences of Family Reunification in Ireland, was published by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) yesterday. It also recommends the Minister for Justice's discretion in deciding reunification cases should be limited.
Launched at yesterday's ICI conference on the reform of migrant family rights, the study gives 56 people's accounts of their experience with the family reunification process.
It says a more transparent system would involve ministerial discretion only being applied in cases not covered by legislation. It argues for family reunification rights to be recognised in the forthcoming Immigration and Residence Bill.
The study also calls for a broadened definition of the family, for family members to have immediate independent status with access to the labour market and for the Government to conduct research on reunification before forming policy.
It calls on the Government to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families to show their commitment to human rights.