President warns of dangers of racism over refugee issue

THE President, Mrs Robinson, has warned of the danger of racism "rearing its ugly head" in Irish society unless people learn to deal with the issues surrounding refugees and immigration.

Urging Irish people to be "true to their history", she told a conference on asylum yesterday organised by the Irish Refugee Council that the emerging racism witnessed in recent months was contrary to our traditions.

In a strong plea for greater tolerance, Mrs Robinson urged politicians and the media to take a "rounded approach" to the issue of asylum seekers. Acknowledging that there were practical difficulties involved in taking in more refugees, such as greater pressure on resources, she appealed to people to be receptive and open in their approach.

The President drew parallels between the treatment of refugees in Ireland today and the reception afforded to Irish emigrants to north America in the past. During the Famine, there were many who did not welcome the "desperate disease ridden" Irish immigrants who arrived in the US, including some of the Irish already in the US, she said.

However, there were others who showed courage and welcomed the Irish, Mrs Robinson said. "In Canada, I was told of one mayor of Quebec who died of cholera after working with the Irish immigrants. Other FrenchCanadian families took the Irish orphans into their homes."

Earlier, Senator David Norris attacked the "nasty, xenophobic" attitude of sections of the media and the public on the refugee issue. He also criticised the "sentimental and selfish" focus of Irish people in their view of exile, now that they were no longer victims but beneficiaries of the world economic system.

If these issues were not addressed, Ireland would move from being, in Joyce's description, "that lovely land that always sent/her writers and artists to banishment" to being the land that "slammed the door" on asylum seekers.

Referring to distinctions made between political refugees and economic immigrants, Senator Norris said that people in Europe had benefitted enormously from exploiting the developing world. "In that context, how can we say we have no obligation to people from the Third World?" he asked.

The outgoing junior Minister with responsibility for asylum seekers, Ms Joan Burton, said the refugee applications commissioner provided for under new legislation would start work on July 1st. The Refugee Act represented a "fair balance" between the rights of asylum seekers and the right of the State to protect itself against "spurious" applications for asylum, she said.

Ms Burton said she regretted the refugee issue had been used "in an ugly way" during the election campaign. "That's a genie which, when let out of the bottle, is very hard to put back in."

The Irish people had been taken by surprise by the cultural differences between them and some immigrants, particularly those who were begging in the streets. However, this did not mean the people in question did not have a genuine case for refugee status.

The best way to address the current difficulties was to implement the Act rapidly, she said. Already in the past six months, the Government had processed more cases than in the previous 10 years.

A Zairean woman who has been given refugee status in Ireland told the conference she had not chosen this country. "What I chose was safety, for myself and my children," she said. Her children now growing up in Ireland would "blame her all of their lives" if they were not accepted here.

On her first public engagement since her appointment as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was announced, the President, who is patron of the council, was given a prolonged standing ovation punctuated by loud cheers by an audience of more than 300.

She spoke of the "daunting task" she faces and paid tribute to the "great support of a practical kind" she had received from the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste.