A number of groups, including Amnesty International and ICTU, today called on the Government to abandon carrier sanctions provided for in the Immigration Bill 2002, saying that they will lead directly to unnecessary deaths.
The Bill will allow for the fining of hauliers, airlines, shipping companies and individuals who bring illegal immigrants into the State.
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"The newly-published Bill marks a new low for Ireland’s respect for the right to seek asylum from persecution, and makes a mockery of the Universal Declaration of Human Right," a joint statement said.
"The Government is taking a dangerous step towards further reducing the international protection available for refugees, and trying to claim an EU directive leaves it no choice.
"But acceding to an EU Directive does not oblige us to introduce its terms if they are in breach of international human rights, and we do not have to have this stain on our statute books," it said.
Mr Seán Love of Amnesty International said the group recommended the Government should not carry through with carriers' liability legislation.
He said that passing the legislation would increase the risk for refugees, "forcing them into the hands of smugglers and traffickers".
It was a point echoed by Ms Esther Lynch of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions who said that "We see that this Bill tramples on fundamental human rights...
"It makes an employee responsible for the errors or omissions if his employer." From a union standpoint, she said, this was unacceptable.
Sr Joan Roddy of the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace called on the Minister for Justice, Mr O’Donoghue, to "revisit this whole area of legislation... to look first at what are our obligations under the Geneva Convention".
Ms Noeleen Blackwell of the Refugee Protection Policy Group said that under that convention, "Ireland’s existing obligation is to protect refugees".
Also speaking at today’s press conference was 17-year-old Eyup Isik, who survived the Wexford container tragedy last December. Speaking through an interpreter, he said "I was with a neighbour and other people when they died in the container found at Wexford in December. We were aiming to get to the UK.
"We travelled by container because it was too difficult to get into the UK to apply for political asylum by normal travel because of their carrier sanction laws. We gave a lot of money to someone to smuggle us in. We knew it might be dangerous but we were determined to leave.
"People in Ireland have been very good to me since December, but if you have the same law as the UK you will force more families like mine to go to smugglers. You will make the smugglers very rich.
"You will make more families get into containers, you will have more deaths and more people like me left without people they love. Don’t make this law," he said.
Comhlámh, Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Irish Refugee Council were also represented at today’s campaign launch.
