Government to be `generous' on accepting refugees

The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has said the Government will act as "generously as possible" in accepting Kosovo refugees fleeing Yugoslav military violence.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in Luxembourg today, at which Ireland will propose taking 1,000 ethnic Albanian refugees, she said "there is no question of us being reluctant in accepting a greater figure if we are asked to do so by the UNHCR [the UN's refugee agency]".

The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has proposed admitting 1,000 refugees to Ireland, a figure described as inadequate by opposition parties.

Mr Brendan Howlin, the Labour Party spokesman on justice, said "1,000 is the absolute minimum that our Minister could go to the European forum with". He said we should offer to accommodate at least three times that number, noting that Norway, with a similar population to the Republic's was taking 6,000 refugees. "We are always minimalist in our approach, but we can afford to be more generous."

He said the offer reflected the Government's negative approach to the refugee issue, which was also shown in its failure to publish the amended Refugee Act and its failure to approve a system of work permits for refugees as promised.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said at least 2,000 refugees should be admitted initially, with that figure increasing over time if necessary.

Mr O'Donoghue is to discuss the Kosovo crisis with EU ministers today and tomorrow, including plans to relocate as many as 100,000 ethnic Albanians in Europe. Any proposals on the refugee issue will be brought foward for cabinet approval.

Officials from his and other departments yesterday met the Eastern Health Board, the Refugee Agency and the UNHCR on arrangements for admitting the refugees.

Among the issues discussed was the possibility of using Army barracks for accommodation. A number of State-owned sites, including barracks, will be inspected in the coming days to establish their suitability for housing refugees.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, and Ms O'Donnell are to meet Irish aid agencies today to discuss how to spend the Government's £2 million aid allocation for Kosovo. Applications for the funding of humanitarian projects will be processed with special haste, said Ms O'Donnell.

The emergency grant follows the approval last week of £400,000 of funding for UNHCR projects in the Balkans.

Ms O'Donnell said "we stand ready and willing to do what is asked from us by the UNHCR" whether that means relocating more refugees in Ireland or investing greater resources in humanitarian projects. She added that Ireland was the UNHCR's 10th biggest donor and was the only non-NATO country offering to take in refugees from the conflict.

Ms Aine Ni Chonaill, a spokeswoman for Immigration Control Platform, said: "We have no problem under the circumstances in taking in a number, like 1,000, which would be appropriate to our population compared to other EU countries."