UN: Ireland should make the protection of refugees a priority during its EU presidency next year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said.
Speaking ahead of a visit to Dublin tomorrow, Mr Ruud Lubbers said the UNHCR had concerns about proposed EU directives designed to cut the numbers of asylum-seekers in Europe.
Mr Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister, is to raise with Government ministers his concerns about the directives. One would allow EU member-states to send asylum-seekers to third countries that are deemed "safe", while another would disbar applications from citizens of certain "safe" countries. A third proposal would allow states to carry out deportations even before asylum-seekers have had their appeals heard. The move to a uniform system for handling asylum applications across Europe should not become a "downward harmonisation", he warned.
If each state tried to outdo its neighbours with extra tough measures, the result would be a set of "beggar-my-neighbour" policies that would not provide real protection for refugees.
"If too much water is put in the wine, they you'd be better off not drinking it."
Mr Lubbers acknowledged that a large majority of people who present themselves as refugees are not actually refugees. The challenge for Western states was to ensure that the "real" refugees got the help they needed. While accelerated procedures for so-called "manifestly unfounded" asylum applications were acceptable, there should be independent verification of cases by a body such as UNHCR.
One of the issues Mr Lubbers says he will be discussing with Irish Government ministers is the "remarkable" number of asylum-seekers coming here from Nigeria.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is backing plans for EU-organised charter flights to return groups of illegal immigrants to their countries of origin. The Government hopes this will speed up the rate of deportations, which are proving highly expensive on an individual basis.
Mr Lubbers says Ireland could do more to resettle refugees in crisis situations. He points out that in the US, for example, 10 per cent of places for immigrants are reserved for those on resettlement programmes. Currently, Ireland accepts about 10 resettlement cases a year, totalling about 50 people.
The High Commissioner has responded to growing public antipathy to asylum-seekers in Europe by suggesting new measures to tackle "asylum shopping" and refugee smuggling. In September, he proposed "supplementing" the 1951 Refugee Convention with new agreements to standardise national procedures.
Mr Lubbers welcomes the lack of xenophobia found in Ireland compared to other states, which he describes as "a positive thing". This country's economic success has inevitably led to an increase in immigration and this is a challenge to be met, even it if feels "strange" at first, he said.
Mr Lubbers is the first refugee High Commissioner to come to Ireland.
His visit is intended as a thank-you for the Government's support for the agency's work around the world, which was worth about €8 million last year.
Mr Lubbers and the Minister of State for Development Co-operation, Mr Kitt, will tomorrow launch the UN's main annual appeal for funds at a press conference in Government Buildings.
More than $3 billion is the target for this year's appeal, which is designed to meet the needs of UN agencies and the Red Cross working in humanitarian crises throughout the world.
Dublin is one of five cities chosen for the launch, which is targeted on 21 "forgotten emergencies", mostly in Africa.