More than 80 per cent of people believe asylum-seekers should be allowed to work while their applications are being processed, according to a nationwide survey carried out by a Catholic lay organisation, the Pilgrim House community. Some 70 per cent of respondents believe the majority of asylum-seekers are bogus, the survey finds, although fewer than one in 100 people have had any contact with asylum-seekers.
A clear majority - 59 per cent - believe the Government's policy in the area is at least partly motivated by racism. The survey uncovered widespread hostility towards asylum-seekers, who were frequently referred to as "scroungers" and "layabouts", as well as bitter complaints about the cost to the State of providing for them.
A majority said their opinions had been formed by the media, one-third said their views came from personal observation and only 2 per cent cited the churches or the Government as the main source for their opinions.
"This gives the lie to any claim that media coverage has been balanced and the church's silence in the face of this persistent attack on a very vulnerable minority is a frightening indictment of its role in Ireland today," states the editorial in the current issue of the community's newspaper, the Pilgrim.
About 250 people were contacted as part of the survey, which was carried out last month. The Pilgrim House community is a lay Catholic organisation concerned with social justice issues, based at Inch, Co Wexford. Racism is not confined to asylum-seekers, the survey found, with Spanish and Australian respondents reporting that they too had suffered racist abuse in Ireland.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Mr Willie O'Dea, has said the increasing numbers of children from refugee and asylum-seeker families attending schools here should be seen as an opportunity rather than as a problem. "Our children can only gain from early exposure to different cultures and backgrounds."
"Rather than argue over the precise legal status of refugees, the Department has recognised the reality on the ground. All children resident in Ireland, no matter what their background or how they got here, have the right to be educated. We are also morally obliged to make reasonable efforts to accommodate any specific difficulties." He said five teachers had been appointed in Dublin specifically to deal with the children of refugees.
