The `flow' that is only a trickle

Mr Deasy in Joyce's Ulysses is headmaster in the Dalkey school where Stephen Dedalus taught. Early on there is an exchange between Deasy and Stephen: "Mr Deasy halted, breathing hard and swallowing his breath. I just wanted to say, he said. Ireland, they say, has the honour of being the only country which never persecuted the Jews. Do you know that? No. And do you know why?

"He frowned sternly on the bright air. Why, sir? Stephen asked, beginning to smile.

"Because she never let them in, Mr Deasy said solemnly."*

Ireland might well have claimed credit for being non-racist 10 years ago because, until then, very few foreigners had come here except as tourists. We made the mistake of half-opening the gates.

In an opinion poll published in the Irish Independent on Monday, it is maintained that three out of four people want to restrict the "flow" of refugees coming to Ireland. Anxious about this "flow", the Department of Justice is about to fingerprint all asylum-seekers and is reviewing the construction of a "reception centre" (i.e. a detention centre) where asylum-seekers will be "catered for" while their asylum applications are being considered.

In a book published last week (Cultivating Pluralism, edited by Malcolm MacLachlan and Michael O'Connell) there is an essay by a Maynooth lecturer, Philip Curry, on a survey of attitudes to refugees arriving in Ireland. It was conducted in inner Dublin in the summer of 1998.

It showed that 57 per cent believed that refugees were coming to Ireland to exploit the social welfare system. Three-quarters believed that Ireland was experiencing a "flood" of refugees, and it concludes: "Levels of hostility towards refugees arriving in Dublin are very high."

In an essay by Sinead Casey and Michael O'Connell in the book, another survey reveals that almost two-thirds of refugees experience outright racist insults in Dublin, and one in six experiences physical assault. Among black refugees the position is worse - 87 per cent have experienced racist insults.

Over one-third of refugees have had difficulty getting entry to public houses; half have had difficulty getting accommodation; over a quarter have experienced prejudice on the part of doctors and police.

Again, for blacks it is much worse: nearly 67 per cent have had difficulty being served in pubs; 58.6 per cent have experienced prejudice while using public transport; almost two-thirds have had difficulty getting accommodation; and over 40 per cent have experienced prejudice on the part of gardai.

Earlier studies, taken up to a decade ago, showed incipient racism but nothing like the virulent species that is prevalent now. How did this come about? Where, for instance, did the idea come from that we are experiencing a "flood" of refugees?

The total number of visitors to Ireland last year exceeded six million. The total number of visitors to Ireland from 1990 to 1999 was over 40 million. The total number of refugees who came to Ireland since 1990 is 18,300 and in 1999 was 7,700. How could these 18,300 be a problem in the context of 40 million tourists coming to Ireland over the period and 7,700 be a problem in the context of more than six million tourists last year?

OK, so the refugees want to be accommodated and stay here while the tourists don't. But how could that be a problem? We have a population of 3.7 million people. So what if 18,300 want to join us? The net annual inflow of immigrants is over 40,000 so what is the problem with 18,300 over 10 years? It represents fewer than one-half of 1 per cent of the population, or would represent that if they stayed here, which they do not.

In the same period 24,700 sought refuge in Greece, 54,000 in Norway, 73,000 in Denmark, 83,500 in Spain, 85,500 in Italy, 129,000 in Austria, 180,000 in Belgium, 245,000 in Sweden, 282,000 in Switzerland, 300,000 in France, 321,500 in Holland, 374,000 in the UK and nearly 2,000,000 in Germany.

So how is it that 18,300 over 10 years is such a big deal here?

The number of refugees here on December 31st was probably around 10,000. Maximum.

Yes, the countries mentioned have larger populations than we do. Germany has a population 22 times ours and has well over 100 times more refugees. Belgium has a population three times ours and almost 10 times the number of refugees.

So what are we on about?

The total number of refugees in the world is 11.7 million; are we so totally devoid of any sentiments of obligation to others to be alarmed at a total of 7,700 asylum applications last year, representing 0.065 per cent of all refugees?

The position is even worse than these figures reveal. This is because our rate of "recognition" of asylum, either under the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees or on humanitarian grounds, is far lower than most other developed countries.

The recognition rate in Ireland in the period 1990-99 was 13.9 per cent, as compared with 27.3 per cent in Holland, 41.4 per cent in Norway, 24.8 per cent in Belgium, 72.4 per cent in Denmark, 47.3 per cent in Finland, and 20 per cent in France.

Only Germany, with a huge number of refugees, has a lower recognition rate (7.6 per cent); and also Italy, with 13.4 per cent. We still don't want to let them in.

* The quotation from Ulysses is taken from the introduction to Philip Curry's essay in Cultivating Pluralism