Residency refusal for families 'painful'

The Government's refusal to allow families with residency under the Irish-born children scheme to bring other family members to live with them in Ireland is leading thousands of migrants into disadvantage, according to a new report.

A lack of family reunification rights for these families is also a great source of pain in their lives, the report by Dr Liam Coakley and Dr Claire Healy says.

"An axis of disadvantage is created. The conditions attaching to their legal residency mean that they are often operating as single parents, separated from their . . . extended family group," Drs Coakley and Healy said.

"Many people keenly feel the enforced separation and loss of their partner . . . Long separations have resulted and some children are growing up without a parent, brother or sister."

The report, Looking Forward, Looking Back: Experiences of Irish Citizen Child Families, is based on interviews with 38 families and was commissioned by a coalition of non-governmental organisations working in children's rights and immigration.

The report claims there is a lack of clarity around most reunification decisions and recommends that policy and future legislation should provide for family reunification for all those legally resident in the State.

It finds that families in the Irish-born child-residency scheme are happy to be living in Ireland. The support provided by hospitals and the Garda is highly regarded but childcare is seen as difficult to access. The families involved often do not have a family structure due to their partners or other family members being refused family reunification.